#i love working at a racetrack it gives me so many ideas

[roe-and-memory]

at some point, when he runs out of projects to work on and things to fix, lightning mcqueen takes on the brilliant idea of getting a late model car. what better is there to do in the middle of the week than get out racing — again.

he runs races in kingman at the local track, towing his car on a trailer behind his good ol’ 75’ chevy k10.

its familiar for him. he used to race these cars, he used to race against young drivers and old drivers alike — sometimes, he even got a chance to race against real cup drivers. those were the coolest days of his life at the time.

he recalls the victories and the championships he won in his years as a super late model racer, the only childhood pictures he has being the ones from when he was 15-17 that hang on the wall of macks truck with such intense pride. the idea brings him nostalgia, and the very real realization that he can afford to build a new one — his old one sitting comfortably in the rusteze racing museum — and, since hes done working on his truck, he has all the time in the off season to waste.

his first order of business is a chat with rusty and dusty to work out a sponsor deal.

rusty and dusty are excited at the idea, but being a primary sponsor IS expensive.. so, they tell him that they’d be willing to partner with tex to work out some sort of team and dual primary situation. they KNOW tex has always wanted to sponsor lightning, so why cant he do it now on his lower league car?

tex is delighted by this idea. he gives lightning funds to build the car, as well as works with rusteze to make a middle ground, hot paint scheme that’ll ignite the track and catch everyones eye.

once he has all the materials, his second order of business is putting everything together.

having been his own mechanic for quite a while before his radiator springs racing team came in, he knows the inside and outside of his car like the back of his hand. with minimal instructions, hes got the chassis and frame together in less than a week.

he never told doc about any of this — so imagine the mans surprise when he steps into his garage one morning, lightning is still asleep inside, and he finds the skeleton of a brand new racecar propped up on a bunch of cinder blocks.

he interrogates lightning, finally getting a confession of ‘oh, right…. uhhh wanna be my crew chief in a second series now?’, and he agrees. he helps lightning build the car too, happy father-son bonding time as they discuss what this kind of racing would look like as doc isnt too familiar. when theyre done, ramone paints her, and she’s ready to be entered in a race.

tex essentially covered the entire cost of the car itself, all lightning has to do is pay the small fee of entering it into the local track and everything is settled..

these races turn into a sort of therapy for him. he can race without all the big crowds, and he can have more personal connections with fans this way. it brings the track in kingman more publicity.

lightning is LOVED by the owners of the track. he decides it’d be in his best interest to do autograph signings and fan days there, bringing the track more publicity and more funding — cause all money from these events goes right to them.

aside from that, lightning also cant find it fair for him, a cup driver, to be racing against younger people and teams that arent as wealthy.. each win he gets there results in donation of the money.

sometimes he gives the money to second or third place finishers/their team, depending on who wants it. other times, he donates the winnings to the 50/50 raffle right before its called and he ups the pool — hell, sometimes he’ll just straight up donate the money to a local charity or school. on some random and perhaps slightly rare occasions he gives the money back to the track. its nothing against them, obviously, but he donates a ton already and he thinks other people should get chances — and they completely understand.

the only thing he would ever keep from these wins are his trophies, and even if he doesnt run ever race or he doesnt win every race, being able to get trophies reminiscent of those from his beginnings in the sport brings a smile to his face.

but… imagine one race he just gets Walled. it’s bad. his car is fucked and suddenly the world is spinning — as his car rolls down onto the apron of the track and the caution lights come on, he makes a poor attempt at crawling out of the car. its ends up with him half-sprawled across the pavement trying to remove his helmet and firesuit, racecars going by at a still high speed just meters away from his head.

it sucks, its stupid — the impact broke a bone in his knee and hip that he’d already experiences issues with from a past crash from a similar situation.. he doesnt wanna admit hes hurt, so, he avoids as much contact with medical services and doc, and just insists he’ll walk off the godawful limp hes fighting with — the one sending shudders and tremors through his whole body with each new step he takes — and he wants to fix his car.

this secrecy cant last long, obviously.. i cant imagine what a piston cup race would do to him that same weekend.

[shuenkio]

Honeymoon 🌹

Paring: Heeseung X male!reader

Genre: Fluff & Smut

Cw: heavy nsfw ;) cum inside, belly bulge, unprotected sex etc

Summary: You want to ride that crazy cow ride, so hee offers you a free ride.

Read at your own risk.

Word: 2.5k

Lack of massive perfect words, pardon me if it overdoes [words]

Getting married to Heeseung after knowing each other for quite some time was a great experience. He was lovely, is a gentleman, loves to take care of you, and he's also a grandma's boy. You've never seen him cursing or doing dirty stuff like normal adults do; instead, he was soft toward you, as if you were his diamond. Or maybe he never showed up? 

He decided to take you to his home for your Honey Moon together since he wanted to show you where he was growing up. 

You agreed without any second thought; before the next thing you know, you're already standing under the hot sunlight, shining through your hat. The wind, the fresh air, and the summer felt so ascending. 

"This is amazing, hee!" You said as you breathed in the cold breeze to your lungs. This is better than city life 360°. 

"I know you would like it, Bob. Now let's go to my grandparents's house; we're going to stay there for a few days." He uttered as a soft smile spread over his face, signing in relief as you loved his idea of coming here.

Arriving at the destination, Heeseung's grandparents immediately came out and greeted both of you with a warm welcome. Not only do they support you, but they also love you as if you're their grandchild and treat you like everyone else. 

They help to move your luggage and stuff, even though you insist they should not; however, it won't work for them. They also prepared your shared room with Heeseung with a lot of decorations that fit your personality, which show how much they're dragged into your background. 

Thanking them is not enough; you want to pay back for all their hard work by showing your gratitude. Again, they won't let you, as they said your presence was more than enough for them. You were touched by their words, as you're on the edge of a crying river, but Heeseung was there to comfort you, or else you would look so ugly in front of them. They're so sweet. 

During the day, after spending a night at Heeseung's grandparent's house, they suggested your husband take you somewhere nice for your honeymoon because Heeseung is an outside person. He knew a lot of places, and he was born here too, so don't question him. 

Your husband thought for a while before making up his mind by taking you to the racetrack, where people love going there for horse riding, competition, bets for money, and many more thrilling events. 

Your eyes filled with sparks when he recommended Racetrack for your date. You immediately said yes in an aggressive, cute manner. He was giggling at your reaction, smiling from ear to ear as he adored you even more. 

"Okay, then let's go!" 

At the racetrack. 

Heeseung brought two tickets for both of you for the show of horse racing. The horse racing was epic; you've never seen such a thing like this before since you're a city boy. 

Now you've realized that this is better than any sports you've watched, and you prefer watching this instead of football because, why not? This is so addictive; riding at a fast pace, reaching for the goal, definitely gives the rollercoaster feeling. 

The show comes to an end with a winner, the one you're rooting for as You scream in victory and celebrate the moment with other people. Your lover was standing there beside you, a bit jealous that you forgot about him; however, he just shrugged it off and formed a delightful smile. Seeing you're happy makes him happy too, putting jealousy back away. 

--- 

Making your way back home, out of the venue, your eyes suddenly lay on a carnival event. It's a crazy cow ride, where many people come to challenge a bull machine that moves at a wild speed. You release your hand from your husband's grip before running to see. I left Heeseung all alone once again as he scoff in upset with your childish behavior. 

"Love! Love, can I ride that?? It's so cool." You said your eyes turned into stars watching the kids ride that crazy machine. Heeseung narrowed his eyebrow and took a closer look as he shook his head as a sign of no. 

"Awwae, why not? I want to ride that, please." You beg, with your puppy eyes, for your husband's permission, but still, he's disagreeing. As he intertwined your hand, taking you home.

"Nope bob! It's getting late now, and that thing looks dangerous. You don't want to end up at the hospital, don't you?" He responds, barely looking at you while he's talking, which upsets you even more. 

"But come on, love, it was once. I swear, I rarely come to a place like this. Give your husband a chance, please." You left no choice but to try all your methods to melt his heart, but nothing seemed to work on him; he was already ignoring you. 

You pout in disappointment; let it be as you let out a heavy sign as a result. 

A few minutes later, he suddenly spoke. 

"There's something you can ride at home; stop sulking or I'll kiss your swollen lips." He finally broke his silence. In return, a joyful frown appears on your face, jumping in happiness.

"Really, but what kind? Like that machine one? There's another place nearby your grandparents house." You started to question him with a lot of questions. He answered with only one word. 

"You'll see yourself, and it's also the real one." Heeseung replies, bending down to your level before whispering to your ear in a low, seductive tone. His hot breath hits your skin, giving you unexpected goosebumps.

"Tsk, I'll look forward to it then, but if you're lying to me, you're dead." 

Walking into the room, you throw your body on the soft king bed size; you didn't even bother to get changed since you're too tired to do so. You nuzzle your face, dipping to the bed sheet, breathing in no space air, before you feel a warm hug pressed behind your back with his head brushing into the crooked of your neck. 

"Hmm?" You hum in response, asking what he wanted, until something poked hard underneath your tailbone. You immediately open your eyes from your rest, knowing too well what exactly he wants. 

"Hee?"

"Yea?" 

"..."

"Sigh* yes, I want to start this with you, love." Heeseung said, his tone almost sounding guilty. You roll your eyes, lost in thought, asking him to leave your body. As you turn around, look at your surroundings. 

"Bu-.. Y'know, are you thinking what I am thinking? This is your grandparents house." You utter, almost whisper, anxious at the idea that someone might catch both of you doing this couple stuff in the house, especially his grandparents. 

Heeseung laughed under his throat, with a mix of excitement and humor. He moved closer to you as he cupped your face, looking at your endearment. 

"Love! Once I closed this room's door, not even a single fly could interrupt us. This room is noisy.  proof even if you're scream nobody gonna hear ya~" Heeseung mutters as his gaze grows darker at the thought of having you under him. You almost jaw-dropped upon hearing the dirty talk from your husband. This is probably just the beginning; what will come more once he gets full control of you?

"Wow, you're something darling, I have never seen you're like this before." You stutter. His eyes are burning, full of lust and desire, like a wolf wanted to breed its mate, dominant them until they're satisfied. 

You move backwards using the strength in your arm until your back hits the headboard. 

"I want to make sure, do you really want to have s- uh se-" 

"Yes, I want to fuck you, mn! Don't be shy; this is our honeymoon after all, didn't it?" He smirked as his hand traced down on your skin in ecstasy. Your breath hitched at his touch; he was so good at this. Not even a day you'd thought one day you would have sex with him, since he's too good at hiding his wild side. 

"Now do I have your permission, my love?" He licks his lip, patting like a puppy, as he feels like his bulge is getting more painful in these clothes. 

You nod slowly and accept your fate. Heeseung is full of surprises. Even though you're now his husband, there are too many things he is hiding from you for real. 

He began to take your clothes off piece by piece until you left with nothing but a naked body, which turned him on even more at your milky smooth skin. The heat in his body is getting out of control, begging to claim you sooner. 

He soon ripped out his t-shirt and unbuckled his belt.Now both of your clothes are all over the floor, and your two naked bodies lie on the bed, ready for the real moment to start. 

"One moment, mn." Heeseung stood up on his feet, went to close the door, and locked it as he found something in his bag. Then he pulled out a labricate.

Your mind went blank. Question yourself about how the hell he had that without your knowing. As you deep down in your mind, you remember the word he said—that he would take you to the crazy cow ride—but look at you and him now—very unholy. 

Unexpectedly, He pulls your hip with both of his hands, making your head fall to the pillow. He positions himself in front of your entrance as he puts liquid on his huge cock and your hole.

"Hee hee, this is my first time!" You state it out of the blue, which makes him tilt his head in return. You expect a shock reaction from him; however, instead of confusion, a big grin spread across his face. He looks really happy right now after hearing that. 

"Even better, love; don't worry, I'll be gentle." 

You gulp down, ready for what is coming for you, with a mix of thrilling and nervous. 

Without further ado, he put a tip inside you, and as a result, the two of you moan in unison. His head was big enough to spread your hole, rolling his hip to warm you up to get used to his massive size. 

"Please put it in Heeseung; I want you." Your words slipped out of your mouth after you adjusted to the warm skin inside your asshole. His crotch was so big that you wanted them pulsing inside you to ruin your beautiful pink hole. 

Heeseung didn't waste his time, pushing his shaft all inside in a swift motion. Once he's fully in, he begins to move slowly, still respecting your first-time experience. 

His cock is not going to lie; feel too good for you to not grip on the bedsheets underneath. He's making your body tremble and shiver as a small belly bulge is visible on your skin, even though he's just pushing at a slow pace. 

"Faster love! I want faster; I don't care anymore." You said this as you were still catching your breath at his slower speed. What will happen if he pounds on you like an animal? 

"Your wish is my command, my little husband," he said, squeezing tight on your leg and throwing both of your legs on his shoulder. The next thing you know, he slams his crazy big cock inside you at rapid speed. Not even warning you. 

Thumps thumps

The wet noise started to occur in the empty room, and with every pound he pushed in, his lower abdomen was always pressed against your butt cheeks, making you squirm in no time. 

His cock spread your wall, almost tearing you into two, but as he continued to fuck you in, the painful feeling faded away, leaving only the arousal inside. Since this is your first time, naturally, your ass is clenching on his cock like a baby grip. 

He cried out in gasps; your hole sent a shockwave to him. As he continues to grind his hip, jerking inside you, chasing for pleasure and climax,. 

He increases his speed with every thrust once he gets full control and access to your body when your entrance gets used to his cock. 

You catch out of your guard, and after he quickly changes his position, he puts you on top of his stomach, still buried inside of you, as he lay on the bed instead. 

"You said you want to ride a crazy cow ride; go on~ ride me as you please, babe!" Your eyes went wide, realizing he's behind this. Your gaze softens, leaning down before you bite his bottom lip, kissing him in passionate tension. You no longer be mad at him because he's making you feel good right now. He returned your kiss, lurking his tongue inside your mouth with his wet saliva, eating you two in one at the same time. 

"Fuck uhh," you quake, feeling a jolt send all over your body as your body signals your about to cum. 

"Hee-ahh, narggg, I will cum on you. You want it?" You become more breathless with every thrust he pushes in, his finger still busy spreading your hole to take him all in. 

"Don't hold back, love~ cum for me; now would you like it if I filled you in?" He's too close to the edges, hitting you in every sweet spot. He asked for your permission once again if he could spill his cum inside your hole. You nod aggressively without even answering him. 

In the very last few final thrusts, his tip crushed on your G-spot, making you go insane for a sec, as your cum splashed out on his toned abs, unable to hold in. 

"HOLY MOTHER FUCKER AHHH," your chest heaving in an error motion as you arch your back, throwing your face above the ceiling, to the sensitive pleasure he's pushing you in. 

"Ah-... Ahhh, mn, I'm comming b-brace yourself." With another one last push, his cock started to twitching as the warm, hot seed filled you in. He let out a heavy moan, like vomit, as he reached his goal. 

You collapse on his body while his cock falls out of your hole, like a river of cum dripping out of your entrance. 

"That was one of the hell rides, mn? How do you feel, Mn? Am I hurting you?" He presses a kiss on your forehead as he holds on to your waist, supporting your weight on his. 

You inhale and exhale, rolling your eyes to the back of your brain, still feeling it. 

"I never know. Fuck feel this good." 

"So you want another round, mn?" 

"No, but I want you in." 

"Like, what love?" He asked your unfinished question. You couldn't explain what your desire was to him, so you snaked your hand before grabbing his cock and pushing inside of you again. 

"I love how you feel inside; please don't pull out." You responded embarrassed, covering your face in his chest. He snorted at your reaction and boldness, as he started to love this side of you. 

"Anything you want, little one~ not to mention that I could be there forever if you insist." 

🗣️ please mind my English! ><

🗣️Reblog and like is much appreciated ♥

🗣️ crd to all pics&dividers

[wekiaam]

2D NEWSIES: What I would change

I just realised I've been making fake concept art for a nonexistent animated Newsies adaptation for four years now. Over time, I've been getting so many ideas for this adaptation if it ever became real, I thought I would share them with you guys! This includes story changes, cut and additional songs and ideas for characters and style. I would love to know your thoughts on these!

When I started making concept art for "2dsies" as I came to be called, I intended for it to be based on the Broadway version and the Broadway version only. However, stories on stage differ a lot from stories told on screen, it just doesn't work the same way. I do still prefer the storyline of Broadway Newsies, but I think the best version would be a combination of the best parts of all different versions, plus some necessary changes. I would want Newsies to be a love letter to every production we've had, to everyone who made happen and every theatre kid who's been geeking out over it since 1992, while also being its own standalone movie that can be enjoyed by anybody. I am in no way an adequate screenwriter, these are just a few suggestions I have for a better story!

Story

Like I said, the story will be based mainly on the Broadway storyline, meaning we still have Artist Jack, Katherine, and most elements from the show that aren't in the movie. It will, however, be quite different from the show and the movie, and maybe add some more of the real events from the newsboy strike. There are still some details and scenes I would like to add and some I would remove completely.

- I like the history lesson opening from the movie, it gives people just enough background information on the real historical events the story is based on. I don't know if it should be Racetrack or Jack narrating, though.

- In Santa Fe (prologue), Crutchie mentions he's afraid the other boys will find out about his bad leg, even though they all literally know him as Crutchie, and it seems to be the first time Jack tells him about his dream of going to Santa Fe, even though they've clearly been best friends for a long time. It feels off, UNLESS they only just met, which is why I love @raggedy-albert 's theory so much. I would have the scene start off with them as kids, and have them grow up throughout the song.

- I want to add a scene in the beginning of Katherine at the New York Sun to establish her character and motivations, and possibly a little foreshadowing. Just an idea for a scene; she goes to the editor to let him read her story covering the trolley strike, but he reminds her of "her place" and that she's lucky enough to be in the position she's in and that she should go review a vaudeville or something. This would not only give her a similar motivation to the newsies, but also, if we're gonna bring the women's rights movement into the story let's do it right!

- Of course I'd also like to add more romantic interactions between Jack and Katherine, to make their relationship more believable. However, I don't think they should be a couple immediately after the finale, I was more thinking of an open ending to their relationship where Jack takes his first step to staying in New York by finally asking her out.

- Maybe add the actual scene where Jack and Davey visit Brooklyn instead of having them tell the other newsies what Spot said right before Seize the Day. Show don't tell, you know?

- A scene where Jack visits Crutchie at the refuge, similar to the one in the movie, but with the sadness Jack describes it with in the show. Again, show, don't tell. Show me how Jack visits the place of his nightmares again only to find his best friend in a worse state than ever and being unable to save him.

- Katherine punches Jack after the rally. Give it to me.

- Additional scene after Jack and Katherine's song after the rally where Jack formally apologizes to the newsies. Because in the show it just cuts from "omg he's a sellout *spits on the floor*" to "yay captain Jack is back" and it just doesn't sit right with me.

Songs

- There should be an entirely new Pulitzer song. The Bottom Line is good but by far the most skippable song on the cast recording, and The News Is Getting Better (the off broadway cut song) is a little Better but not quite the evil capitalist song we need.

- Swap Something to Believe In for When I See You Again. It's such a sweet song and I think it suits Jack and Katherine a lot better. It's much more "Neither of us know what tomorrow brings but when I'm with you I know we can change things for the better, even if it's scary but for now let's be here together and forget the world for a bit" instead of "I love you but I'm still gonna chase my cowboy dreams"

- Cut Letter From The Refuge, since my idea was to have this be a scene instead.

- Some lyric changes!

In Santa Fe: "Crutchie's callin' me, he's fine, just too damn slow"

In Once And For All: add this lyric from the movie, "Better to die than to crawl".

In Seize the Day: "Friends of the friendless seize the day, raise up the torch and light the way", not in the song but in the reprise where all the working children of the city gather before the finale.

Additional: "Still it seems like the dream of a boy, not a man", from The Truth About The Moon, a cut song from the movie that was supposed to be sung by Sarah. I don't know where I would put this lyric, but it could be said or sung by Jack as he realises what he's really looking for is not actually Santa Fe.

Characters:

- I want to add more girls to the background newsies, first of all.

- Sarah still won't do anything for the plot, but Davey and Les could mention that they have a sister. She's still canon to me.

- Speaking of Les, let's make him more likeable and also more helpful.

- Snyder has two scary dogs with him at all times.

- Just and idea, maybe Denton could still be a character if we replace Darcy with him, or maybe combine the two. Have him be Katherine's chaperone and friend formally, but also her reporter bestie. They could be a fun journalist duo!

Style

- The movie will still include the iconic choreography, which means it couldn't be fully 2D, but rather a mix between hand drawn and CGI.

-I would love for the backgrounds in the movie to be similar to impressionist and romantic art styles from the 19th century, to really sell how it's a story told from Jack's perspective. Especially his dream-like imaginations of Santa Fe would be brilliant in this style.

- I want to include a lot of weather foreshadowing. Rain right before Seize The Day and the sun breaking through when Davey starts singing. Mist surrounding Snyder and sudden darkness whenever he's near. A beautiful sunset when Jack and Katherine are alone on the rooftop. And of course, partly cloudy, clear by evening. It's such a cool way of visual storytelling when you have a plot that has no magic involved, like in most Disney movies.

- The real people characters' designs (Pulitzer, Hearst, Roosevelt) can be based on political cartoon caricature versions of themselves.

And lastly, quotes from the movie I liked that could be inspiring for the animated movie:

-"When I created the World..." "🙄" and "Where was I?" "You created the World, chief?"

- "No, we'll be just a bunch of angry kids with no money"

-"What, you couldn't stay away?" "Well I guess I can't be something I ain't." "A scab?" "No, smart."

Many of these ideas are still in development. Some might work, some may not, but I will be basing any future work I'll post on here on these ideas. I would love to see you guys  discuss and add on to these!

[veryspecialfungus]

you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but what classpects would you give the interns?

On a scale of one to ten, how humiliating is it that I have actually considered this question before this ask? How much more humiliating is it that I always at least think about it for almost every fandom I've ever been in?

Now, I don't actually remember WHAT I came up with the first time around. It's a fun thought exercise more than anything. My days of actually producing Homestuck crossover content were over before they started. Much like the comic itself, classpects are an elaborate indulgence that's just too fun not to partake in.

Now it's been a hot minute since I actually read Homestuck, and I'm almost certain I missed a lot of the fine details the first time around. Time has only dulled what I do remember, so I'm using the wiki and the extended zodiac to remember how each classpect works. I'm not about to try and read the whole thing over for this so if I get stuff wrong: sorry. Also I'm basing this on what I think would make the best story as much as what I think fits the characters as is.

ANYWAY...

Raz: Seer of Time. Seers primarily coordinate the other and I like the idea that Raz can't run off and do everything himself when he can't get the others to help this time around. Like his personal SBURB journey involves getting the others to respect him for who he is, not just what he can do for them. Also, time would be an interesting challenge for him, considering how many logistics there are to keep track and how Raz can be prone to acting without considering all the consequences. Also the whole "Time players never give up" thing which...yeah, that's Raz.

Adam: Rouge of Light. Void might have also worked here, but Adam seems more like the kind of guy who wants to tell you about the cool history stories he learned WAY more than he wants to work behind the scenes to make it, if that makes sense. Mind would have also been good, but I dunno, I like that this one plays to Adams strengths in that he likes to share his knowledge, but also challenges him through the luck aspect; Adam had the supreme good luck to be assigned the Grand Head of the Psychonauts as a mentor and the supreme bad luck that he was in a coma the whole time, but he tried to play the bad part down to such a degree that it didn't matter. Maybe part of his development is coming to an understanding of what he can and can't control.

Gisu: Maid of Heart. I really tried, I REALLY TRIED, to not be super obvious here, but I think it just fits too well. Gisu is drawn to huge emotions and big expressions of love and I think her journey involves just...maturing into an understanding of her own emotions. Like, honey, your heart is never going to help you win money at the racetracks. Gisu doesn't really seem to be a HUGE jerk to her friends, but she is to people she doesn't know, so maybe she can also learn to be less immediately standoffish? Sorry, we're back to this problem where I don't really understand Gisu as a character too well.

Morris: Knight of Hope. Morris, boy, you gave me such trouble here. I went back and forth between Hope and Breath a few times, but I think there's an intentionality to Morris's actions that Breath doesn't cover. Morris wants to be seen as a rebel, an iconoclast, a freethinking renegade. He's still young enough to rock and not old enough to die, as the saying goes, and his personal quest is all about actually...becoming that instead of a disobedient jerk with a crummy radio station that only has one record.

Norma: Mage of Mind. Norma was easy. She thinks she already knows everything there is to know about people and how they work and she really really doesn't. She doesn't really know herself either, and learning about both is going to be exactly what she needs to do, even if she doesn't like what she finds.

Lizzie: Witch of Space. I wanted to avoid overlap with canon Homestuck characters, but it just can't be helped here. Witch just fit better than any of the other similar classes. Anyway, there's a theory in fandom where Norma is the golden child in her family and Lizzie is very much not, thus Lizzie's bad attitude and goth punk kind of fashion sense and I like that idea enough to play off it here: Guess what Lizzie, after a life of being ignored in your sister's shadow you are now one of the two most important players in the game. Figure that one out, girl.

Sam: Bard of Life. Somewhere back on my blog is a WIP someone made of Sam as a Bard of Life, and I just can't do better. Sam ruins the lives of every animal she encounters already, so turning it into a method of healing her team enables her to step it the fuck up. I'm picturing her building some kind of animal-run hospital on her planet, the kind of hospital that cuts funding for gauze bandages while building fountains in the entry way and makes all the animals work 12-hour shifts every day.

And just to go ahead and answer the follow up question I suspect is round the corner...

Dion: Page of Blood. I mean, it just makes sense to me. Dion feels his family, his blood ties, are falling apart and the Page class is a character characterized by a lack of something. Also I like the idea that Dion has a lot of potential that he might achieve if he breaks away from his family a bit, gain more trust that they love him rather than trying to cling to the way things have always been, make more friends and expand his world, become more confident in his ability to forge bonds...He could have a really interesting arc.

Frazie: Prince of Doom. I like this bit in the extended zodiac that says "The Doom-bound won't fix you; they aren't healers. They are commiserators, aware that sometimes the only thing you can do for a person is let them know that they are not alone in their suffering." That seems about right: Frazie is NOT going to try to artificially cheer you up if she knows you fucked up, but...maybe she should get a better handle on what needs to change for the people in her circle to achieve their dreams. Some sacrifice is important, and getting a better handle on when to hang on and when it's OK to let go.

Mirtala: Sylph of Breath. Um, I still don't really understand how a Sylph differs from a Witch, and the wiki was really no help. There's an aspect of healing in the Sylph that I think fits Mirtala pretty well, as she could definitely be a healing factor for her family.

Queepie: Heir of Rage. OK...hear me out...I thought it was funny. BUT ALSO as the baby of the family, Queepie is likely well aware of all the dysfunction in his family structure, and it can really wear you down. We saw that Queepie really didn't want to share his music with Raz and he was trying extremely hard to find at least a little time for himself. I think Queepie is having a lot of emotions relating to his family, and they drive his actions more strongly then probably even he realizes. I don't think he'll be going on a Gamzee-esqe killing spree, mind, but I think figuring out his resentment will be a big theme of his growing up.

[sluttywonwoo]

desperate || c.sc x reader

Summary: the first time seungcheol fucks you raw (sponsored by irresponsible decisions)

Warnings: swearing, smut (18+) additional warnings under the cut

Word Count: 2.6k

A/N: originally posted on my tom holland fic account ( @wazzupmrstark )

Masterlist

additional warnings: oral (m receiving), choking, unprotected sex, semi-public sex (bathroom), creampies

“Baby,” Seungcheol groaned against your neck in an attempt to get your attention, but if you’d heard him you were choosing to ignore him as you continued to grind down onto his lap with your head buried in his shoulder. “Baby,” he tried again, “I don’t have a condom.”

He was still desperately rifling through his wallet with one hand and digging through the pockets in his jeans with the other in the hollow hope that maybe he’d find one.

He always carried condoms with him, he had since before you had started dating. How the hell was he missing one now- then it dawned on him. Last month, at that bar back in London when you had been wearing nothing under your tight black skirt and he just had to have you… god damn it, Cheol, he thought to himself. He had used the last one then, when he fucked you in the bathroom that night. But now you were the needy one and he couldn’t even take the edge off for you.

Despite the circumstances at hand, Seungcheol’s body was reacting accordingly to your actions. His cock was straining against his jeans and he was almost positive you could feel his erection against your thigh. And if your moans were any indication, he was right.

He sighed into your shoulder, and used his hands to still your hips. Your bottom lip jutted out in a pout momentarily before you began pressing languid kisses to his neck, sucking hickeys right underneath his jaw.

“Y/n, I-I don’t have a condom,” Seungcheol stuttered out again and pushed on your shoulders to make sure you heard him this time.

“I don’t care,” you whined, slumping forward onto your boyfriend in defeat. “I want you so bad.”

“I know, darling,” he said in a hushed whisper, trying to ignore the way your hips were still rocking instinctively on top of his.

If you were at home it wouldn’t be such a big deal. Seungcheol could just pop out to the shops and be back within the hour with enough condoms to go as many rounds as you wanted. But you were all the way in Monaco at the F1 Grand Prix- it wasn’t like you could just come and go as you pleased, once your ticket was scanned at the beginning of the day you were stuck there because the no re-entry policy was strictly enforced at all exits. You’d learned that the hard way on the first day.

When asked later, your friends would claim not to know where you and Seungcheol had run off to. But everyone knew. You were a bit infamous for bathroom quickies, hence that night at the bar last month, and you had been before Cheol was in the picture. Bars, restaurants, movie theaters, clubs, and department stores were all fair game to you. Today was no different. Seungcheol was sitting on the counter with his back pressed against the mirror in one of the racetrack’s tiny, one-person facilities and you were straddling his lap.

Everything had been going routinely when Seungcheol broke the news and you felt your heart (or rather, your pussy) shatter into a million pieces. He just looked so goddamn good in that pink shirt with his hair slicked back like that… fuck. And the way he’d been acting this weekend, so casually confident with his friends and the racers, it brought out something primal in you.

“You want my fingers?” Seungcheol offered, holding up the middle and ring fingers on his left hand.

You shook your head. “Just want you.”

He chuckled lightly and brushed your hair out of your eyes. You knew you were being a brat, but you were too desperate to care.

“I know, but I already told you-”

“I don’t care that you don’t have a condom,” you sighed. “Just go without.”

Seungcheol blinked at you in surprise. “Wha- are you sure?”

In all the time that you had been dating, you and Seungcheol had never had sex without protection. It wasn’t that you were opposed to the idea, you were on the pill, but you had always been overly cautious and you and Seungcheol had never really… talked about it before.

“Y/n?” You had fallen silent.

“Hm?”

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

You could only nod at first before you could verbalize.

“I need to hear you say it,” he murmured, voice an octave lower than it had been a second ago.

“I’m sure,” you managed, “please, Cheol.”

He smirked, biting his lip. “Of course, baby.”

You pushed yourself off of him and watched as he unfastened his belt. Your mouth watered as he pulled at the button and zipper on his jeans and you thought for a brief moment about how pathetic you were.

But as soon as Seuncheol had freed himself from his pants you found yourself not caring anymore. The humiliation burning in your cheeks melted back into want and you felt the temperature in your whole body rise a degree or two.

Seungcheol pushed his jeans down to where they sat bunched around his thighs and looked at you expectantly.

“Ready, angel?” he asked, dark eyes giving you a onceover.

It wasn’t often that you were the one fully clothed and Seungcheol was the one exposed to you, but on the rare occasion it did happen you liked to take advantage of it.

“Wait, can I?” Your gaze fell to his lap and he cursed.

“Always.”

You smiled and licked your lips as you bent over to take him into your mouth. Seungcheol wasn’t the biggest you’d ever had, but his cock was still able to hit the back of your throat, which you loved. You suppressed your gag reflex as best you could while you sucked him off, feeling the arousal simmering in your stomach multiply tenfold just because of how full your mouth was. He brought a fist to his lips and bit down on his hand to stifle his moans, tangling his other hand in your hair.

He twirled your hair around his fingers into a makeshift ponytail and tugged gently. You moaned around his cock and took him even deeper so that the tip of your nose was pressed against his pelvis.

“God, y/n,” Seungcheol groaned, bucking his hips upwards into your mouth. “Sorry,” he grunted.

“S’okay,” you said with a smile, still somehow managing to keep your pace.

“So desperate for my cock, you’d take it any way you can get it, huh?”

You whined in response and nodded your head. You heard him laugh, then choke when you pulled off of him. He scowled at you as you licked a stripe from the base of his cock, along the vein, to the head, before taking him fully in your mouth again, making him throw his head back in pleasure.

“Stop, stop, I’m close,” he warned and pulled you off his cock by your hair.

If you weren’t so intent on having him inside you you would’ve finished him off there. He looked so hot like that- jaw clenched with restraint, stomach taught and firm, even under his shirt. And the way he looked down at you while you sucked his dick, fuck.

You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand and leaned in to kiss your boyfriend on the lips. He met you halfway and pressed his lips to yours, smiling into the kiss. The taste of champagne lingered on his lips.

“C’mon, baby,” Seungcheol grunted and motioned for you to climb on top of him.

You did just that and hiked your skirt higher up on your thighs, pushing your panties to the side so that he could have easy access to you.

You reached for him and used your knees to brace yourself on the counter before he held out a hand to stop you.

“Wait,” he said breathlessly, “let me taste you first.”

You watched as reached a hand under your skirt and used two of his fingers to collect your arousal before bringing them to his lips and sucking it off. When he was satisfied with his work he offered the same two fingers to you.

“Open,” he instructed.

You sucked his fingers into your mouth as he’d asked and moaned around them, which might have been a little over the top, but you couldn’t find it in you to care. Seungcheol retracted his fingers after a couple seconds and kissed you again, cupping your face with both of his hands. He slipped his tongue into your mouth, groaning when you whimpered. You could taste yourselves on each other’s lips, but as you continued to make out they became indiscernible, a mix of both of you. All you knew was that you couldn’t get enough.

Seungcheol struggled to pop the first few buttons on your shirt, but eventually got the hang of it, and unbuttoned the rest with ease, exposing your chest to the cold air.

“Fuck, I’ll never get tired of your tits,” he whispered, mostly to himself.

You rolled your eyes and pushed his shoulder lightly. “Cheol, stop teasing me,” you begged.

Your entire body ached. You were clenching around nothing at this point and it was torture. You needed something inside of you right that minute and if Seungcheol wouldn’t give it to you your own fingers would have to suffice.

“I’m not teasing you,” he insisted earnestly.

“Then fuck me already!”

He smirked for what felt like the millionth time and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re going to have to keep your voice down if you don’t want us to get caught, darling. Do you think you can do that?”

You nodded fervently, knowing it was a boldfaced lie. Seungcheol knew it too- you had literally just been yelling at him to fuck you seconds earlier, but you were already this far and he’d made you wait so long already.

“C’mere,” he said lowly and put a hand on the small of your back to pull you closer. “Spit,” he commanded and held out his hand for you. You spat into his palm and watched as he used his hand to pump his cock a couple of times, ensuring that it was lubricated enough for you to take comfortably.

He then lined himself up with you and held back a groan as you sank down onto his cock. You sighed in relief at the feeling and wrapped your arms around his neck to steady yourself. You stayed there like that for a minute or so, not moving, just enjoying how full you felt.

Seungchel always felt good inside of you, but like this… without discomfort of the condom, without the resistance of the rubber or the texture of the latex, without anything in between you… it was indescribable. You could feel every vein, every curve of Cheol’s cock. You could feel his pulse in your pussy and the sensation was enough to make you forget how to speak.

“G-god,” you gasped.

“You’re so fucking tight,” Seungcheol muttered through clenched teeth.

“Feels so good,” you mumbled.

Seungcheol managed a smile and brushed your hair out of your face. His smile faltered when you began to ride him without warning and he choked out your name along with a string of profanities.

You rocked your hips forward to meet Cheol’s over and over again, moaning quietly every time the head of his cock brushed your g-spot. It wasn’t long before Seungcheol was doing most of the work, slamming into you like his life depended on it. It was actually impressive, how hard he was fucking you in the position he was in. He was sitting upright with all of your weight on top of him and was still railing you like it was nothing.

“Is this what you wanted?” Seungcheol asked, voice low and gravelly. “For me to fuck you like a slut?” You could only nod. “Answer me,” he demanded. “Are you such a desperate fucking cockslut that you couldn’t wait a few more hours like a good girl?”

“Yes!” you cried.

Seungcheol brought a hand to your throat and wrapped his fingers around it, rubbing his thumb along your pulsepoint. He squeezed lightly, smiling darkly when your eyes rolled back in pleasure.

“Do you think you deserve to cum?” he asked, knowing you were close.

“Yes,” you whimpered.

“Do you think you can be quiet?”

“Yes. Please, Cheol-”

“Please what?”

“Please can I cum? I-I need to cum, fuck!”

You fell over the edge before your boyfriend could respond, not even allowing him the chance to get a word in before your entire body was overcome by waves of pleasure. Your vision went white as you rode out your orgasm and Seungcheol held onto you tightly the whole time, whispering praises in your ear as you came down even though you knew you were in for it later.

Your thighs were still trembling when the aftershocks had finally subsided and you gave Seungcheol a sheepish smile.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, baby,” he assured you. “I made you wait long enough.”

“You were teasing me! I knew it!”

He kissed you chastely on the lips and winked. “Couldn’t resist. You’re so fucking hot when you’re desperate.”

“Fuck you.”

“You already did.”

“And if I remember correctly, you haven’t come yet. I could always leave you hanging-”

“No! No, I’m sorry,” he apologized hastily.

You laughed and pushed his curls out of his face as you began to ride him again, ignoring your own arousal still burning in your stomach. Seungcheol cursed, letting you know that he was right there on the edge.

“Where do you want me to cum? Your mouth? Your chest?” You didn’t answer and leaned down to kiss his neck instead. “Baby, I can’t,” he rasped, “I’m gonna cum if you keep doing that.”

“I want you to,” you whispered.

“What?”

“I want you to cum inside me, Cheol. Want you to fill me up-” your pleas were cut off with a moan as Seungcheol came and you felt him tense underneath you as spurt after spurt of cum filled your cunt. If you thought you had felt full before-

You threw your head back at the feeling and helped your boyfriend ride out his high. It wasn’t enough to make you cum a second time, but the way his cock throbbed inside of you, the way he clenched his jaw and bit his lip as he came… it certainly… sparked something within you.

Seungcheol was out of breath by the time he could open his eyes again and when he did he smiled at you from underneath messy hair and hooded eyelids, completely blissed out. He pulled out of you slowly, watching his cum drip out of you and onto the counter.

He turned around and snatched a few paper towels from the dispenser on the opposite wall and handed half the stack to you while he used the other half to wipe down the counter.

“What a gentleman,” you said sarcastically as you used the towels to clean yourself off. You knew when you stood up there would likely be more dripping down your legs, and that was if you could stand, but you would have to cross that bridge when you got to it.

“And they say romance is dead,” he quipped back cheekily, holding his hand out for your half of the used paper towels.

“Can’t imagine why.”

You watched from the counter as he threw them away and washed his hands. He pulled a couple more paper towels from the dispenser and wet them in the sink before making his way back over to you and just tossing them between your open legs.

lmk what you think i always appreciate feedback!!

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[franklyshipping]

It’s Going To Be A Tickly Ride ~ A Markiplier Ego Tickle Fanfic

HERE WE HAVE THE NEXT INSTALMENT OF MY FAVOURITE POLYAMORY IN THE EGOSPHERE, COURTESY OF AN ANONYMOUS PROMPT! LET’S DO THIS!

TAGGING: @silvlee-shepherd @yandere-ipli-ler and @thehostofleetrature

An arcade can honestly be the most epic place for an all-day date, because you’ll never run out of things to do! This was something that the Host, Silver, and Yandere were delighted to discover as they spent their Saturday together, enjoying each other, and all the fun that the arcade complex had to offer them. Yandere had been having particular success with the claw machines, and had won many soft and cuddlable prizes for Silver and the Host. Meanwhile, Host had been having lots of luck with the coin machines, winning not just lots of coins, but also lots of trinkets that he had been filling his coat with; it meant that now whenever he walked, he would jingle quite cutely.

Meanwhile, Silver Shepherd had been being an absolute BEAST on all of the racing games. You name it, whether they were car games, motorbike games, spaceship simulations, he was setting new records on every single one of them! The giddy look of delight on Silver’s face every time he won a new game gave Host and Yan butterflies. They loved him so much and they were so in awe of how he just kept winning and winning! However, with this winning streak, came a determination. Silver now felt he HAD to set a new record on EVERY racing game. So now, with the arcade nearly reaching closing time, Yan and Host were stood and fondly smiling as Silver went in on his 8th attempt on the last racing game in the arcade.

‘This is the one! I can feel it!’

‘Pumpkin you said that last time!’

Yandere giggled, shaking their head fondly at the hero. Silver pouted and wagged a finger at them.

‘You hush your pretty face! I can do this, I know I can! Besides, you two should be motivating me!’

Silver retorted adorably, before giving his attention back to the large screen in front of him. Silver was sat on a large motorbike simulator, and he would use controls on the handles to get him through a virtual racetrack, which was INCREDIBLY difficult. At Silver’s words, the Host tilted his head a little . . . and started to grin. Yandere noticed, and leant in towards him, whispering.

‘Oohh I know that look. What are you plotting handsome?’

The Host blushed and chuckled gently, before leaning in to whisper his little idea of how to “motivate” Silver through his forthcoming race attempt. Yandere’s crimson eyes lit up with mischievous excitement, and they whispered back to Host. Silver noticed none of this of course, being too focused on choosing his avatar for the race and watching as the animation of the starting track played on the screen. Then though, Silver gasped when he felt someone settle in behind him on the bike. Host.

‘You want extra motivation, do you?’

He whispered playfully in the hero’s ear, making Silver blush and smile as he felt Host’s hands creep around his torso from behind. He stuttered bashfully.

‘W-Well, I-I . . .’

He cut himself off with a gasp when he then felt someone working off his shoes and socks, and he looked down to see it was none other than Yandere. They said nothing, but made sure to wink up and him whilst subtly wiggling their freshly manicured, red nails. Silver gulped, until Host’s voice made him jump adorably.

‘Oh look darling, I think that’s the countdown.’

Oh God. Silver was already nervously giggling as the countdown for the start of the race flashed brightly on the screen in front of him. He whined cutely, fingers trembling against the controls as the Host’s fingertips tapped his sides, and the cool air teased his soles. The countdown flashed.

3.

2.

1!

The race started, and so did the gentle, teasy tickling against the hero’s vulnerable sides and adorably squirmy feet. Silver squealed and nearly jumped off the bike, giggling adorably as he used every ounce of his will to concentrate on the race before him, his mouth spreading into a bright smile.

‘N-Nohoho dohohon’t behehe meheheeeean!’

Host and Yandere giggled warmly, both of them melting at the sound of Silver’s giggles. Host’s fingertips drew deft shapes and swirls in the dips of Silver’s soft sides, whilst Yandere’s nails crept and crawled slowly up and down the hero’s soles. They were going to have lots of fun with him.

‘Aww we’re not being mean! We’re tickling you, just how we know you like it!’

Silver let out an embarrassed squeal at Yandere’s tease, cheeks going bright pink; okay yes, this was the exact kind of tickling he adored, but there was no need to frickin call him out on it! Silver whined, somehow managing to continue his race even as the Host teasingly whispered in his ear.

‘Tickle tickle tickle darling . . . tell me, does this tickle terribly?’

The Host’s fingers started slowly creeping up Silver’s torso, under his shirt of course. Host’s fingertips teased up his sides and ribs, making Silver arch into the writer as he squeaked and stuttered.

‘Y-Yehehehes! H-Hohohosty pleheheeease!’

‘Hmm, please what?’

Host replied in an innocent tone of voice, which flustered Silver so much that he couldn’t make himself coherent enough to reply! Yandere giggled at this, and smirked up at their darling men as they gasped playfully.

‘Aww he’s begging you to tickle him mooore! How adorable!’

Silver squeaked and shook his head frantically, shocked into being able to speak as Yandere’s nails now drifted closer and closer to the balls of his feet; it was a miracle Silver was still racing, but he was honestly too determined to give up now!

‘Ahahaham nahahat! Yohohou shuhuhush it-EEEE!’

Silver’s eyes widened and he let out the most tremendous squeal. Yandere was grinning as they scratched rapidly over the balls of his feet, even pinching the soft flesh to make Silver snort as he weakly tried to kick. However, with the way Host’s legs were pressing against his, it meant he could hardly move them! The Host laughed as he grinned at Yandere.

‘Getting a good spot down there my love?’

‘Oh you bet! Are you gonna go for his cute little armpits now?’

Silver let out a flustered whimper through his giggles, his red blush creeping down his neck as he was forced to listen to their teasy conversation. His heart was pounding so much, as his underarms tingled. His armpits were oh so ticklish, and if he wanted to win the race then he couldn’t move his arms to protect himself! The Host grinned, feeling Silver’s reactions to the mention of his armpits. The Host’s fingers crept up even more as he spoke in a purring tone.

‘Ohh I think I shall. They’re so ticklish and so fun to play with, even a few strokes send him wild.’

Silver was breathing faster and faster as the Host’s fingertips settled in his hollows, making the hero yelp in anticipation and squeak out the most adorable plea known to man.

‘NOPLEASENOTMYPITTIES!’

Silver then got even more embarrassed when he realised that he had actually just yelled that out in a public place. He had adorable, happy tears welling up in his eyes as he desperately focused on the screen in front of him, willing it to go faster and faster so he could finish it and escape the tickling. Alas, the race was not yet over, and besides even if it was . . . Host and Yandere wouldn’t have let him go until they’d completed their own finale. They chuckled, and Yandere cooed.

‘Hmm, I suppose your armpits and the balls of your feet ARE devilish combination. Your armpits and your toesies though? Now that’s certain to be a winner, wouldn’t you say Hosty?’

‘I couldn’t agree more my dear, I couldn’t agree more.’

Before Silver could ever mutter a protest, he was shrieking with hysterical laughter. The Host was attacking his hollows with soft scratches at what felt like a million miles an hour, whilst Yandere scritched and softly pinched the pads of his extremely sensitive toes. Silver felt like he was going to go mad from it all!

‘AAEEEE NOHOHAHAHA! NOHOHO FAHAHAAAIR!’

‘Awww kitchy kitchy cooo!’

Yandere teased, having the time of their life tickle torturing Silver’s soft, wiggly toes. Yandere’s beaming, happy smile was honestly enough for Silver to have already forgiven them for being so torturous. It was the same with the Host. Feeling the writer’s warm, rumbling chuckles of joy was enough for Silver to forgive him too, despite his evil damned whispers.

‘How strong you are, stopping yourself from fighting us. It’s admirable and oh so heroic, seeing you so determined to win your race. Although at the end of the day, you know just as well as we do that you’re loving every second of this tickle torture. I wouldn’t be surprised if you begged us to carry on even after you’ve finished.’

Silver’s eyes widened at the Host’s tease, and he spluttered through his near-hysterical laughter.

‘D-DOHOHON’T SAHAHAY THAHAAAT!’

Host snickered affectionately, nuzzling Silver’s neck a little as he purred.

‘Why? Is it flustering to hear the truth?’

‘Y-YEHEHEHES!’

Host and Yandere both laughed happily, relishing in Silver’s laughter and beaming smile and sweet, pure, perfect ticklishness. Then . . . Silver finished the race. Yandere and the Host had mercy on the giddy hero, who panted as he lay back against the Host’s chest, giggling residually as he weakly wiggled his toes.

‘Ihihi neheed aha nahaaaap!’

The three of them happily giggled, the Host kissing the back of Silver’s neck as Yandere stood and pecked the hero affectionately on the lips, leaving a soft tinge of red from their lipstick. They were about to put Silver’s shoes and socks back on for him, when they looked at the screen, and shrieked so loudly that it made Host and Silver nearly jump out of their skin!

‘BABY OH MY GOD YOU BEAT THE HIGHEST SCORE! YOU DID IT!’

Silver blinked with shock as he looked at the screen, before happily squealing both at his victory, and at the fact that the Host had stood up, picked him up bridal style, and was currently spinning him with a grin as he teased.

‘Truly, you are a hero amongst men my love.’

Silver giggled bashfully, still in shock from the fact he’d actually done it! They collected the dispensed tickets and walked to the stand, so Silver could collect some more prizes before they left; though Host did keep carrying Silver, insisting that such a victor need not walk. Also, Yandere was keeping a hold on the hero’s footwear, after having teasingly suggested that when they got home they wanted to play with Silver’s feet some more. When they reached the desk however, the manager was stood in front of it with a box in hand, seemingly waiting for them. As the trio reached him he beamed.

‘Hello! I ah, well, all of us working here today wanted to give you something, Mr Shepherd sir.’

Silver smiled sweetly, seeing that the man evidently recognised him out-of-costume. Then Silver peered at the box, and gasped when the man offered it to him and explained what it was.

‘When we realised it was you we uh, went to the bakery across the street and had this made for you. And also, since you set new high-scores on all the racing games we uh, wanted to give you a special reward! So obviously you can redeem your tickets for any last prizes you want, but we wanted to tell you that if you ever wanna come back, you can play any of the games you want for free! You and your loved ones can.’

Silver was speechless as he accepted the boxed cake, filled with so many emotions at the generosity. Host and Yandere were so moved too, since in their opinion Silver didn’t get recognised and praised enough for the heroic work he did day to day. So when Silver opened the box to see a triple-layered chocolate cake with white icing that read “You’re Our Hero!”, he got fresh happy tears in his eyes.

‘Thank you, th-thank you so much!’

The loving, happy trio went on to pick out a few more plushies to take home, and after assuring the manager that they would certainly be back for more shenanigans, they headed home. Needless to say their evening was filled with cake, the warmest snuggles with the fluffiest plushies . . . and even more well-deserved, happy tickling.

WOOOO HOPE YOU ALL LIKED THIS FIC LEMME KNOW IF YA DID WOOOO LUV YOUS!!

[somedayonbroadway]

you know who i am but imma go anon anyway cause it makes me feel less annoying 😂- so, could you do a shadowhunters au? ty!!!!

Shadowhunters AU

Characters

Shadowhunters:

Jack Kelly

Katherine Plumber

Spot Conlon

Crutchie Morris

David Jacobs

Sarah Jacobs

Sniper

Finch

Hannah

Snyder

Warlocks:

Racetrack Higgins

Medda Larkin

Romeo

Buttons

Mundanes:

Les Jacobs

JoJo

Mike

Ike

Specs

Henry

Elmer

Vampires:

Albert DaSilva

Smalls

Kid Blink

Werewolves:

Hot Shot

Vince

Morris Delancey

Oscar Delancey

Okay, so I just had a lot of fun sorting all of the Newsies but here’s the story

David and Sarah are twins. They’ve grown up with very normal lives, very good lives. They have a mother who adores them and does her best to spoil them, though she’s a single mother, and a little brother who they love to spoil more than anything else.

On their eighteenth birthday, Sarah is up for a job and David has an interview for law school. It doesn’t exactly go as planned. Sarah runs into some hot chick with tats up and down her whole body and her interviewer claims she’s crazy, while over at David’s interview, everything is going quite well until they see some graphic drawings fall out of his folder. He tries to explain that it’s just for some dumb graphic novel he and his sister wrote as kids, but they tell him they don’t know if he’s serious enough for law school.

Dejected, both of them meet up for coffee with their best friend Specs who tries to cheer them up with fake IDs and biscotti. David and Sarah actually start to feel better before Sarah’s coffee disappears into one of David’s drawings.

They think it’s their imagination.

Later that night, their mother gives them each a gift. A broken stele that was made into two separate ones. A family heirloom she calls it. David and Sarah have no idea what that means but the designs on it are beautiful, similar to David’s drawings, so they hold onto them before they both rush off to hang with their friends at a bar, kissing Les goodnight and leaving.

It’s at this club that they run into some interesting people, all with tattoos running up and down their bodies who have swords and whips and steles and David takes Sarah after all of this happens and they run back to their mother and Medda, their mother’s best friend. Their mother is frantic as Medda informs her that someone named Race called to warn them that The Circle had found her.

Their mother screams at them to get Les as Medda miraculously makes them a portal to go to the police station where their mother’s friend Hot Shot is working. They are told to trust no one else, but when they get there, terrified and crying, they overhear a conversation where Hot Shot tells more of these odd tattooed humans that he doesn’t care about the Jacobs at all. So the twins take their little brother and frantically rush back to their mother who is nowhere to be found only to be attacked by some kind of monster.

They’re barely saved by one of the handsome tattooed people. Sarah is scratched by the mister and passes out.

Jack Kelly is a simple man. Well, actually that’s not true at all. He’s a shadowhunter, born and raised like all the others. He protects the human world from the shadow world. So when him and his team, consisting of his adopted family, track down a demon to find two lost Shadowhunters, things go a little ary. Jack and his family, Katherine and Sean, end up with two lost Shadowhunters in their care and one mundane (human) with them. Jack draws a rune on Sarah’s neck to save her, despite David’s many protests, and he has to explain why these runes are necessary and how they are not tattoos. They give each shadowhunter unique powers.

The shadow world is complicated. All the legends, they’re true. Werewolves, warlocks, vampires, they exist. They are called the downworlders.

Once it’s found out that David and Sarah’s memory had been wiped, they are forced to take them to a young warlock, one by the name of Racetrack Higgins. He’s the high warlock of Brooklyn who was trained by one Medda Larkin and is the most powerful warlock ever to exist. He admits to knowing where the twins' memories are, with a few flirtatious comments towards Sean, and agrees to help them find them.

Things only get worse from there.

Wanna hear more or see a scene? Drop me an ask ;)

For more Mood Boards and AUs, click here!

[je-blauge]

Okay, Gamefreak, I need you to listen to me. I understand you need a new gimmick with each game to make it stand out, put a fresh spin on the standard formula while staying true to the franchise's roots, I get that. But you've done all you can with a gimmick that effects Battling itself. You did Mega Evolution and everyone loved it, you did Z-Moves and that was pretty cool too. But now, with each game, you're giving us a new kind of Mega Evolution and pretending it's different from Mega Evolution somehow. And we're literally all begging you to stop. Go back to Mega Evolution, just give more Pokemon Mega forms.

But hey, if you do that, how do you have a new gimmick for new games? Well, first of all, that's my point: you currently don't have a new gimmick each game, you have an already existing gimmick in a new package.

So here's my pitch: give us more non-battling things for pokemon to do. You've done what you can with mixing up battling, you've changed the pokemon's stats, and you've changed their moves. We're good.

Remember Pokemon Coordinating? Work with something like that: give me other sports Pokemon can play. I'll give you one for free; after that you're on your own.

Pokemon racing. Ever town in the Alrur Zariona region has a racetrack, with different obstacles and a different type affiliation. A pokemon's running speed is based on it's speed Stat, plus or minus a modifier based on whether the pokemon has a resistance or a weakness to the track's type. The player controls their chosen pokemon, ordering it to either avoid obstacles by dodging or jumping over them, or destroy them with a pre-selected move (where the Pokemons attack Stat and the move's type determines how many times you have to jam the A button to successfully destroy the obstacle.) Players can compete against NPC controlled pokemon, or get online and race against their friends. Running in to obstacles costs both time, and the pokemon's HP, meaning that you can automatically come in last if your Pokemon faints.

You're welcome. This idea AND eliminating crunch will save your franchise

[pies-writes-and-more]

Dinner and a Show

Word Count: 6, 638

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader

Warnings: a cheating son of a bitch, a very real realization that fancy restaurants charge so much for food, Bucky stealing the show of this fic, and Steve being an impulsive dumb shit lol

A/N: PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY WORK ON ANY SITES WITHOUT MY PERMISSION! (Reblogs are totally okay!) I know I’ve been MIA, so sorry! This is for @anika-ann​‘s 500 followers celebration challenge! Congratulations darling, you totally deserve it and more! Anyways, I hope you guys like this fic, I had a blast writing it! 

PROMPT: “This is one of those moments when I tell you something isn’t a good idea and you ignore me, isn’t it?”

(Not my gif, creds to the original creator!)

It wasn’t like Y/N hadn’t gone on dates before. Sure, it had been a while since the last guy (…Braydon? Brandon?… Steve’s forehead was riddled with wrinkles as he tried to remember the loser’s name), but Y/N had gone on dates before and Steve had been totally fine with those guys. He hadn’t spent any time sulking around on the couch and complaining about couples or romance, nothing like that. (Even if Bucky had insisted that he had). He was perfectly fine with Y/N dating, why wouldn’t he be?? Besides, it wasn’t about Y/N going on a date, it was about who she was going on a date with. There was something about this guy in particular that Steve was just not okay with. At least, that’s what he’d been telling himself (and Bucky) for the last few hours.

“You need to get over it, punk,” Bucky shrugged away Steve’s tense shoulders and furrowed brow, too busy fiddling with his long brown locks to note the annoyed twitch that Steve’s face gave in response. Bucky fingers pulled on the section of hair he’d been working on for the last few minutes, tugging it away from his head enough so he could examine it properly in the mirror, only to realize that he hated it and quickly ran his fingers through a very messy looking braid. “Stupid fucking Sam. Why did he have to volunteer the only evening that I’ve actually needed him?,” the winter soldier grumbled, mumbling out some more choice words before letting out a breath and trying to separate the section of hair into threes once again.

On any normal day, Steve probably would’ve found it oddly amusing how Bucky wanted to learn how to braid his hair. He could’ve sworn that the Barnes sister used to have braids in her hair often and wondered why Bucky hadn’t ever learned from her, though he wasn’t going to mention it to such a frustrated Bucky. Besides, this wasn’t a normal day and Steve had his own worries to pace around about.

“Just ask Nat to do it,” Steve suggested, and even whilst rolling his eyes, he could see Bucky huffing and puffing stubbornly.

“I did and then she told me, ‘James Barnes, if little girls the age of 4 can braid their hair using youtube videos, so can you’. But she didn’t tell which youtube video to look at! There’s so many! And none of the ones I do turn out like that time that Sam did it,” Bucky growled, scowling into the mirror he was sitting in front of. His hands were starting to grow tired of holding up his hair, and his fingers weren’t exactly trained to do these small plaits.

The corner of Steve’s lips turned up at the memory of Sam insisting that he would look damn nice in braid. He even pointed out that a bun might stay better in his hair with a braid laced in. “You look softer this way too,” Sam had pointed out with a smile, swatting at Bucky’s hands when he had tried to stop him from touching his hair. “Stop being a baby and let me show you.” He hadn’t been wrong. Bucky’s hair looked nice in both a braid behind his back and with a bun encircled by a braid.

“How do you know how to braid hair, Bird Brain?” Bucky had pouted, but sat still with his hands in his lap.

“This guy at the VA once brought his daughter because he was going through a rough time but it was his weekend to see her. I told him that I’d look after her while he went to his meeting so we sat and talked about the life of a 3rd grader. She gave me one of her dolls and showed me how to braid their hair. And honestly? She did them much nicer than I could dream of, but it’ll do,” Sam’s fingers had worked effortlessly even through Bucky’s slightly tangled hair.

Now here was poor Bucky on his own, trying to figure out how Sam did it. His fingers got all twisted in the locks and his mind played tricks on him when it came to which strand crossed over next. “I’m doomed,” he whined, finally giving up and throwing himself backward onto the floor.

“Buck?” Steve blinked, watching his rather dramatic friend close his eyes as his head thudded gently against the floor. His dark hair sprawled out around him as if he had just given up on living, and not just given up on how to properly do his hair.

“Hm?”

“Could we get back to my crisis?”

“What crisis?” One of Bucky’s eyes opened and noted Steve’s desperate expression before grinning. “Oh you mean how you’re impossibly in love with Y/N and only ever realize it when she’s going on a date, but you’ve never had the guts to tell her so you just sit and mope in your room while she’s getting ready? That crisis?”

There was a moment of silence in the room where Steve’s eyes glared a hole into Bucky’s rather amused looking grin.

“I hate you,” Steve huffed, going back to his pacing around his room. If there wasn’t such hard ground underneath the wood of his room, there would’ve definitely been a racetrack imprinted underneath him from how often he had traced his own steps round his room. “I’m not in love with Y/N, don’t be crazy. I just don’t understand why she agrees to go out with such… idiots. Like that guy? The one who was some lawyer? Roger? Rupert?”

“Richard,” Bucky interrupted, sitting back up to watch his best friend spiral. Steve spiralling about Y/N was both pathetically sad and entertainingly interesting to watch, he had learned.

“Him! With his stupid smile and cocky attitude. Like wow look at me. I’m a lawyer.” There was a snide undertone to Steve’s words, one he couldn’t really say he had ever heard coming out from his lips before. But he pressed onward with a tight frown, his mind outrightly confused about Y/N’s dating life.

“I thought Richard was actually kinda nice. I mean, he was a lawyer, but the only time he ever brought it up was when people asked what he did for a living,” Bucky shrugged, brushing his hair from his face before deciding to throw the strands into a half assed bun to flop against his neck. “What’s wrong with this guy again? The new guy?”

Steve scowled at the mere thought of

Kyle.

Steve wondered if he could strain his eyes from rolling so hard the 5 minutes that he had met Kyle. There was this air of privilege that just seeped off of him but Steve couldn’t point out exactly why it seemed that way. No one else had been around when he had dropped by with an insane amount of roses in his hand, proclaiming his utmost interest in Y/N.

“There’s just something about you, Y/N, babe. You aren’t like any other girl I’ve ever met,” Kyle’s words came off so smooth, so eloquent, and Steve felt himself actually gag a little. But Y/N, with her arms carrying the roses like a newborn babe, eyes shooting around the room like she did when she was embarrassed, didn’t seem to note that this guy was just too smooth. She seemed… to like it?

“So what? The girl likes to be complimented and swooned,” Bucky pointed out as Steve explained all this to him. “Why shouldn’t she? She’s an attractive girl and she doesn’t nearly get as much appreciation as she should.”

“I know she’s attractive,” Steve snapped, feet finally stopped in their pacing, arms folding across his chest. “It’s just the way he admires her. Like she’s a piece of meat on a hook.”

Bucky nodded slowly, somewhat understanding why Steve would be worried. Normally, he would be right behind Steve’s first impression of people since he had a gut feeling about crazy weirdos. But whenever it came to Y/N, Steve let the green-eyed monster step in for him. “So you’ve told her right? That you’re worried?”

Steve blinked at him in confusion, his frown tightening on his tense expression, “Why would I tell her?”

“Because if you’re worried about her for genuine reasons, she’d believe you. Any normal friend would,” Bucky explained, the smile on his lips turning into a smirk. “That is, unless, you also don’t like him for another reason. Maybe you don’t want her going on a date with someone… that isn’t… you?” Bucky teased and Steve rolled his eyes in response but his childhood best friend just laughed it off. “Come on, you two are practically made for each other. You’ve never had this hard time of admitting that you liked a gal before, so why Y/N? Why are you so afraid to admit your feelings for her?”

Steve hesitated for a moment, hoping he didn’t actually have to answer that question. Lucky for him, he didn’t. A knock came at the door and Steve gladly took it as an opportunity to dodge the situation.

“Hey! Do you mind if I use your mirror? You’ve got better lighting in here,” Y/N beamed, dressed head to toe in her finest outfit. The two boys shared a look before Steve nodded and moved out of the way for her to enter the room, Bucky scooting on the floor slightly so he could sit next to her on the floor in front of the mirror. “Thanks! You’re a lifesaver, Steve! I just don’t want to get there and realize that I put too much highlighter on because my lighting in my room is so different,” she explained, setting down her makeup on the floor next to her and patting down the products onto her skin as she examined her reflection.

Bucky looked over at Steve and jutted his chin out in her direction, eyes widening in their madness to try to get Steve to say something.

“Uh, excited for your date?” Steve asked, and Bucky noted the lack of enthusiasm in his tone. Y/N shot him a smile from the mirror and nodded eagerly.

“I told him I’d be okay with like tacos or something, cause I’ve been craving tacos lately, but he insisted he wanted our first real date to be a fancy restaurant downtown! He told me he wouldn’t tell me which one, just to dress nice and look my best.”

Steve’s lips parted to interject that she always looked her best, but held his tongue noting how excited she was. He could almost feel how his stomach dropped a little, how his insides were twisting in discomfort at just how happy she looked. She deserved to be happy, he reminded himself.

“So he’s picking you up then?” Bucky smiled, leaning against the nearby dresser as he watched her pat some powder into her under eye area.

Y/N shook her head and gave a sort of half smile, “I know, that’s what I thought too. Cause how am I supposed to get there if I have no clue where I’m going,” she laughed, and Steve noticed just how nervous it sounded. “But he’s sending a cab for me! Already arranged it to pick me up in a half hour and everything. He said he wanted to come get me but he had an evening meeting he couldn’t pry himself away from.”

A little whisper in Steve’s ear made him wonder was it really an evening meeting? Or did this guy just not want to drive all the way out of the city to pick Y/N up from the complex and bring her to dinner? If he didn’t want that, why wouldn’t he just pick something closer to the two of them? Steve’s jawline tensed as he thought about what he’d give to intimidate the shit out of this Kyle dude but quickly relaxed as Y/N’s eyes caught his.

“You alright, Steve? You look all strung up. Something going on?” Y/N turned away from the mirror to look at him and Steve had to catch his jaw from falling to the ground. He had watched her apply her makeup numerous times, tonight wasn’t anything different or anything, and she was wearing a dress that Steve had seen her in multiple times… but…. Steve felt his insides lurch a little, almost begging to be the person she was dining with, looking like the most gorgeous being in any existing universe.

“Yeah, Steve, why don’t you tell Y/N what’s bugging you,” Bucky egged on, his eyes clearly trying to send a signal to his slightly stupid and oblivious best friend. Y/N was busy facing Steve, watching his eyes and facial expressions so she didn’t see Bucky very aggressively mouthing out, “TELL. HER. HOW. YOU. FEEL!”

Steve’s lips twitched a little, chewing on the inside of his lip nervously, “It’s nothing, really-” he started, glaring at Bucky for even bringing it up.

“I think Y/N deserves to know how you feel. You know. About this date,” Bucky continued and Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed as she moved her gaze between them.

“My date? Is there something wrong?” Y/N asked, tilting her head slightly as she looked up at Steve with those gorgeous eyes of hers. Look at her, Steve thought to himself, she got all dressed up for this punk and he might not give two shits about her.

“Just… don’t want you to get hurt, doll,” Steve finally managed to get out and Bucky’s head tilted back in exasperation, while Y/N gave Steve a smile.

“You always look out for me, Steve, but I promise I can do this on my own. Besides, I kick alien ass along the rest of you. A mere civilian date can’t go too wrong,” Y/N pointed out with a twinkle in her eye. Steve simply nodded to her, trying to force a smile that said really no I’m happy for you.

He cleared his throat a little, quickly shifting the conversation to Bucky’s lack of braiding skills. Y/N laughed at the thought of Bucky Barnes trying to braid his own hair but her fingers moved quickly to pull his hair into a nice bun with a braid looping around it, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek afterwards.

“It’s perfect, Y/N, thank you!” Bucky grinned, smiling ever so innocently at Steve as if to rub it in his friend’s face that he got a kiss on his cheek. Steve wanted to roll his eyes again but Y/N stood up and he held an arm out to steady her as she slipped on her heels.

“Alright! I’m going to wait near the front for FRIDAY to let me know the taxi is here! Wish me luck, boys!” Y/N’s voice was so light and airy, something that Steve rarely heard when they were busy shooting down bad guys or tackling mission prep. He couldn’t help but just wish she would be that excited about seeing him too.

Bucky watched his best friend for a moment, raising an eyebrow at the look of puppy dog love on Steve’s face, “You do realize that she would be that excited and more to got out with you, right?” Bucky informed him, as if he was able to read his mind.

Steve blinked in surprise, glancing over at him, “How would I ever know that for sure?”

“Simple. Ask the girl out.”

It hadn’t been more than half an hour before Steve burst into Bucky’s room, where he had been skimming through some memes the Peter boy had sent him via the Insta-gram.

“Hey Steve, did you know there’s this new app called TikTok-” Bucky started, not at all phased by the bursting of his friend into his room.

“I’ve got a plan!”

There was a twinkle in his eyes, a sort of mischievous glint that told Bucky he wasn’t going to like this plan at all. “What is it?” He asked, almost regretting it as soon as he did.

“We have to protect her, Bucky, she’s too good for most men of this world. I can’t let this Kyle dude take her out when he’s not nearly good enough. So, we have to go there and make sure he doesn’t hurt her!”

“Mhm. Yeah. Except, we have no clue where she is. She didn’t even know, remember?” Bucky shrugged, hoping that this plan of Steve’s would crumble and he would end up sitting in his room sulking until he got the balls to go tell Y/N how he felt.

“FRIDAY can track her phone!” Steve proudly proclaimed and Bucky wondered if it took him all of the past 30 minutes to come up with this ingenious plan. “I’ll just get FRIDAY to track her phone, we’ll go and set up a reservation, try and get seated near them, and just wear disguises and make sure that he doesn’t try anything!”

Bucky blinked slowly, fingers rubbing his temple as he noticed just how rash and insane his best friend still was, as if they were still kids in the olden days, “You do realize how creepy that is right? You want to track her phone for her location, sit near her and just… watch her? I- You can see how that is creepy right?”

He didn’t.

“Hold up, and what do you mean we?” Bucky asked with a groan, knowing full well he wasn’t going to like the answer.

But Steve was already going through Bucky’s closet to find the most inconspicuous looking clothes that were still fancy enough for a fancy restaurant, too busy throwing clothes at Bucky’s bed to answer.

“This is one of those moments when I tell you something isn’t a good idea and you ignore me, isn’t it?” Bucky whined a little, throwing his head back onto his bed and closing his eyes, wondering how his best friend managed to lose all sense of rationale when it came to Y/N.

And that is how, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, dressed in suits matched with baseball hats and sunglasses (“this isn’t how you blend in, Steve, especially at some fancy restaurant,” Bucky had tried to warn him) ended up in line at  

L’ailment,

trying to pretend like they weren’t sticking out of the crowd like a sore thumb.

“Sir, I’m sorry, without a reservation, it’s almost impossible to be seated-” the front of house insisted but Steve pulled off his sunglasses, glancing around nervously.

“Any chance you could make an exception for two superheroes who are good friends with Tony Stark?” Steve begged, practically on his knees pleading to get in.

Turns out, she could.

The lady had another server lead them into the dining area, and Steve quickly asked if they could be seated in a booth that just so happened to be near a gorgeous black dress-wearing girl who was giggling as she sipped the liquid from a wine glass.

“-you have the most gorgeous laugh I have ever heard,” Kyle was saying and Steve had to keep himself from choking on his gag reflex. Y/N laughed some more, and there was a glow to her skin that Steve found himself wishing he had caused instead of… Kyle.

“Sir?” The waiter was tapping Steve’s shoulder and Bucky chuckled a bit, noting that Steve had just been standing there, staring at Y/N and Kyle longer than would be comfortable.

“Sorry, thank you,” Steve blushed, slipping onto his seat and kicking at Bucky’s leg as he continued to laugh at him.

“So much for not being obvious,” Bucky whispered to him, throwing his hat and sunglasses away, much to Steve’s annoyance. But before he could convince his best friend that these disguises were highly necessary on their mission, Bucky had become too concerned with how much the restaurant was charging for food, “How much???? For pasta???”

“Bucky!” Steve hissed with a glare, “Shut up, I’m trying to listen!”

“-looking for just someone to be my best friend,” Kyle was saying, swirling his wine around in its glass. “Here I was thinking that I didn’t want anything serious and then you walk into my life… and I can tell that if I don’t do this right, I’d be missing out on something amazing.”

Y/N’s giggle told Steve everything. That crazy line worked, Steve couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t she tell he was lying? Steve’s hands curled into fists against his thighs, tensing at just how fake the guy sounded to him.

“I mean, he seems pretty genuine. Sure it’s a bit cheesy, but he didn’t actively change the subject or anything and it’s not like he’s avoiding being seen in public with her,” Bucky pointed out much to Steve’s discontent. He waved him off, straining his hearing to hear the rest of the conversation over other people at nearby tables.

“Come on, you can’t tell me that you’re surrounded by good looking dudes who are superheroes all day and you haven’t gone to bed with any of them!” Kyle was laughing and Y/N joined in, but Steve watched as she shifted somewhat uncomfortably at what he was insinuating.

“They’re the closest things I have to family, sometimes I’ve thought about dating members of the team-” Y/N admitted and Steve’s heart fluttered a bit, wondering if she was talking about him… before it fell at the realization it could be someone else. “-don’t think they could be all that interested in me anyways. But enough about me, tell me more about what you do at your job, how was your meeting earlier?”

“Ah you know, late evening meetings, same old, same old,” Kyle smiled, brushing off the topic quickly and glancing at his phone that happened to be on the table. “Give me a second, won’t you, darling? It’s the office. If I don’t get it now, they’ll just keep calling.”

Y/N smiled at him and nodded, waving him off, “I get it. Work is busy, go ahead.” Kyle grinned in response and took off to the back, Y/N sipping on her wine some more as she was left alone at the table.

“Who the hell leaves a pretty girl at the dinner table by themselves to take a work call?” Steve grumbled with a huff, shifting in his seat.

“You would,” Bucky pointed out with a shrug, glancing at the drink menu. “If the Avengers called, you’re telling me you would finish dinner?”

“That’s different, Buck, we’re talking a violent threat versus some office call,” Steve rolled his eyes, glancing at the direction that Kyle had taken off at. “I’m going to the bathroom, hold on.”

He excused himself, Bucky eagerly whispering in his trail, “What do you want if the waiter comes?” He didn’t answer, leaving Bucky to grumble that he just wouldn’t order him anything. But food wasn’t exactly on Steve’s mind right now anyways.

Steve maneuvered himself around Y/N’s table, quickly hiding himself behind a few waiters and other guests so she wouldn’t recognize him, before swiftly walking to the back of the restaurant. He glanced around near the bathrooms, raising an eyebrow as he caught Kyle’s stature near one of the corners.

Half pretending to be looking at the art displayed on the wall and half pretending to be listening to something on the phone he put up to his ear, Steve managed to duck his face away from Kyle who seemed to be chuckling over something the person on the other end of his call said.

“-I know sweetie, I wish I could be home with you right now but I’ve got this meeting… I know I’m tired of last minute meetings too but I promise it’ll be worth it when I get this promotion,” Kyle was saying and Steve could feel something burning inside of him. “Love you too, dearest. Best wife ever, hm?” And with that, Kyle made a kissing sound to the phone and hung up, straightening out his jacket and smoothing out his hair.

Steve wasn’t sure what came over him but he couldn’t deny he saw red. Here this guy was, at dinner with one of the nicest, most honest, amazing human beings that Steve had ever met in his years of living, and this bonehead had a wife at home? Before he could think through the situation, Steve’s arm shot out, grabbing Kyle as he walked by and slamming him hard into the wall.

“What the fuck, man?” Kyle screeched, eyes widening when he realized who was under the baseball hat. “The hell? She brought her superhero boyfriend around?” He scoffed, wincing a little as Steve tightened his grip. “Damn she must be real good in bed for a guy like you to be all riled up about her,” Kyle chuckled, as if his joking manner would ease the tense situation.

But Steve’s eyes just got darker, “You’re a fucking asshole, you know that right?” Steve wished to god his glare could burn a hole into Kyle, his face going red with the boiling rage running through his body. “She got all excited for this date. She’s been talking about you non-stop and you’re going around two timing on her?”

The sound of Kyle’s body against the wall must’ve surprised some of the restaurant’s patrons, whispers growing louder around them. Steve didn’t need to look around for his peripheral to catch the workers coming closer.

“Sir, please, you’re causing a scene. I must ask that you bring this outside of our establishment,” someone was saying but Steve stood exactly where he was, firm in his anger.

“What’s going on here? Is everything okay?” This was the only voice that made Steve jump back slightly, his eyes immediately catching breathtaking ones that he had always admired. “Steve?” Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked between the two of them, trying to decipher the situation. “Wh-What’re you… why the hell are you here?”

“Your coworker’s got some crazy anger issues here,” Kyle huffed, pulling himself together and brushing his shoulders off. “Grabbed me for no goddamn reason.”

Steve shot him a glare and almost prided himself on the fact that the boy in front of him winced a little, “No reason huh? You want to tell her who I heard you talking to?”

There was a flutter of fear and guilt in Kyle’s eyes, even though his chest puffed out in arrogance, “I have no clue what you’re talking about, I was talking to my work-”

“Bull shit.” Steve took a step closer to him and Kyle immediately took one back, his back hitting the wall again. Their gazes went unwavered, Steve challenging him to say one more lie.

“Steve, stop this,” Y/N insisted, pulling on his arm slightly. “The hell are you doing? What are you even doing here?”

But Steve ignored her questions, eyes still steady on Kyle, “Tell her. Or I will.” There was a pause and Steve couldn’t help but roll his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time. Kyle couldn’t even man himself up to admit what was going on. “Fine. Your date here just got off the phone with a girl who’s waiting for him to come back home. His wife. He told her you were just a business meeting.” Steve turned to look at Y/N, who just looked hurt and confused. She pulled her hands away from the grip they had on Steve and he could see her swallowing down the embarrassment as people shuffled awkwardly to see what the outcome of the situation would be.

Steve felt a quick moment of pride, his ego boosting a little as he confirmed his own suspicions that this was the reason why he had had an issue with Y/N going out on a date tonight. Here this guy was, sleazy and clearly not a good enough guy for Y/N, and Steve had been absolutely right. But almost immediately after the small burst of celebration, Steve felt his heart sink slightly at the look in Y/N’s eyes.

Although her posture was still stiff, her jaw clenched as she looked at Kyle, as if waiting for him to explain that it was all a misunderstanding. That the woman at home was actually his mom or some relative and Steve had just heard the whole phone call wrong. But Kyle just puffed his chest out some more, acting as if nothing had happened. As if he had done nothing wrong. Her gaze then turned to Steve, confusion filling her eyes as she tried to understand why he was even here. Why had he followed her to this date? And for that matter, how had he followed her?

Embarrassment filled Y/N’s whole body and she could feel her nails digging into her palms as she tightened her hands into fists. “Fuck you, Kyle,” was all she said after a moment, turning around and walking quickly out of the restaurant. People gave her empathetic glances as she rushed away but her pace quickened all the more any time she caught their eyes.

“Y/N!” Steve called out to her, his shoulders slinking down slightly as he watched her disappear. People’s murmurs were growing, whispers and assumptions flying to his ears and making him feel smaller than how he was pre-serum. He even caught a few people trying to film the whole situation. A small piece of guilt started to grow in his stomach as he realized how much embarrassment he had just caused. He could’ve handled the whole situation better, he knew that in hindsight.

“How’d that go for you, punk?” Bucky asked slowly as Steve rushed past their table, hoping to following Y/N outside this now claustrophobic-feeling restaurant. Bucky got up from the table, whisking himself away to Steve’s side as the man frantically tried to chase after the girl,“I gotta say, I love a night filled with dinner and a show, but that was terrible entertainment.”

It was at this moment that Steve had not only wished that he hadn’t come in the first place, but he especially wished he hadn’t brought Bucky around. As soon as they had burst through the doors, Steve wasn’t sure if he was relieved or even more panicked to find Y/N standing there, tears falling from her face.

“Get the hell away from me, Rogers,” she warned with a shaky voice, her eyes shooting him a glare as she desperately tried to wipe her face.

“Y/N, please, let me explain,” Steve begged, walking towards her and reaching out to her but she flinched away, a stern look on her face even with sobs shakily leaving her lips.

“You ruined everything, Steve, why couldn’t you just leave me alone? You followed me to a fucking restaurant! I didn’t even know where I was going so how did you-” she paused as she thought about it and Steve’s eyes moved to the ground in shame. The anger built up in her quickly than he expected, her foot stomping on the ground in frustration, “You had FRIDAY track my fucking phone? God, Steve Rogers, you piece of shit, I can’t believe you!”

Steve opened his lips to insist that it was for a good reason but gave up, knowing there really wasn’t a good enough reason to explain, “I-I’m sorry, doll, I know I was an idiot. But I couldn’t let him take advantage of you! I knew there was something wrong with him!”

“Then why the hell didn’t you tell me beforehand? Did you just magically have this realization while I was already on my way here? Why didn’t you say something?” She demanded, arms crossed in front of her.

“I-I-” Steve stammered out, his mind suddenly drawing a blank of all those excuses that seemed like such good reasons earlier. “I’m sorry,” was all he could manage out.

Y/N huffed exasperatedly, shaking her head and pacing around on the sidewalk, ignoring all the glances of people passing nearby, “I cannot believe you, Steve. And then to top it all off, when you found out, you didn’t even just tell me privately. Ha! No, you had to show it off, dangle your new found knowledge in my face in front of everyone as if my dating life is any of their business! You had to go shove him into a wall like some macho alpha asshole!”

Steve’s shoulders shrunk as she yelled at him, knowing he deserved it with the way he ignored Bucky’s warnings (and his own conscience, for that matter), “I-… I know I fucked up, doll, and I’m sorry, and I’ll keep apologizing for however long you want. I just couldn’t let you go out with that asshole. You deserve so much better than all these guys you bring around, don’t you know that? You should be with a man who’s so much more than the others. Someone who wouldn’t treat you like a business dinner,” Steve told her, as if pleading for her to see that she was so many leagues better than the rest of the world.

Y/N hesitated, tears still sliding down her cheeks and ruining that perfect makeup she had put on only hours earlier. Her eyes watched him as he pleaded, eyebrows tensing as if in confusion, “Someone like you?” She asked quietly, almost in a mocking tone. Her words felt so harsh in the heat of the moment but she couldn’t take them back once they were gone.

But the scoff that she expected never came. The we’re just friends, Y/N never left his lips. The look in his eyes wasn’t a look of but you’re just like a little sister to me. There was a pause and even Bucky, who was standing a few feet away, was holding his breath as the two of them stood there.

“I-I dunno,” Steve grumbled out nervously, eyes quickly dropping from Y/N’s gaze, which was quickly becoming a look of confusion. Steve fidgeted under such a tense situation, rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about all those times he had just wanted to be around her. Just wanted to listen to her talk about that hobby of hers that she thought no one cared about. How he longed to lay next to her and just play with her hair, watch as she slowly dazed away. Steve could feel his heart pounding against his chest as he thought about her, thought about all the feelings he had pushed down so eagerly from the moment they met. “Anyways, it doesn’t matter. I said someone better,” he pointed out shyly.

He wanted her to agree. He wanted her to scoff and laugh bitterly. He wanted that anger that was in her voice so long ago to drown him in his guilt, he wanted her to throw him away so he could confirm the fear that kept his feelings at bay for so long. She couldn’t ever want him, he was being foolish. Look at the guys she brought home, they were normal. Deliciously normal with 8 to 5 jobs and a retirement plan, and here he was. The only reason he was even able to breathe properly without wheezing is because of some serum running through his body. He wasn’t normal, he couldn’t give her normal.

There was a furrow in Y/N’s brow as she tried to piece together Steve’s behaviour and his half-confession. Her eyes moved to Bucky, who was watching with half a smile on his face. The two of them shared a silent conversation, her questions answered by a single nod of his head.

“Steve, did you come out here and follow me because…because you were jealous?” Y/N asked him, still confused. There was a little light humour to her voice because of course Steve was not jealous. Steve is Captain Fucking America. Why would the literal god of all things perfect be jealous of anything coming near her? No, it had to be that he wanted to protect her. It had to be that they were just friends because if they weren’t just friends, then everything that Nat, Wanda, Pepper, and even Tony had said was correct. That would mean that maybe Steve did brighten a little whenever she walked into a room, maybe he did start wearing that blue shirt more often because she had commented how much she liked it, maybe he had bought that way-too-expensive cologne because she enjoyed the scent… maybe all those longing glances across the room, the lingering touches of their hands… maybe it hadn’t all been in her head.

Steve felt his heart start crawling up his throat, clutching at the dryness and making him regret he hadn’t at least drank some water earlier. There was a part of him that wanted to deny it, to throw his heart away as far as he could and insist that no good could come from this. But the look on her face, what was that in her eyes- was that hope? Steve cleared his throat slightly, shifting his weight on his feet as he sheepishly looked up at her, “Would that be bad?” He asked her softly. “Me… Me being jealous, would that be a terrible thing?”

Y/N’s lips turned into a small smile, a gentleness touching her tearful eyes, “No, I don’t think it’d be terrible. Actually, it might be… a good thing.”

Steve’s posture straightened as she spoke, the lines smoothing on his forehead while his heart still beat aggressively into his chest, “R-Really?”

“But this doesn’t excuse your poor behaviour, Steven,” Y/N scolded him again quickly, wagging her finger in his face. “Feelings for me or not, you should’ve told me! You shouldn’t have followed me to the restaurant or embarrassed me publicly!” Steve’s head ducked again as he nodded along, knowing she was right and he really did fuck up a lot tonight. “But,” she smiled a bit, her heart fluttering a little at the mere thought that Steve fucking Rogers was jealous over her dating, “maybe if you keep apologizing and work on that irrational behaviour of yours, we can consider making sure this never happens again.”

Steve nodded quickly, smiling at her innocently, “I promise I won’t ever be this kind of idiot again. I can’t promise I won’t be another kind of idiot, but I promise I won’t have FRIDAY track your phone and follow you on another date every again.”

Y/N laughed at how puppy dog he seemed, eagerly begging for love so quickly after being scolded, “I mean, it would be pretty awkward if you didn’t come to my next few dates.”

Steve blinked at her in confusion, trying to follow her thought process, “S-Sorry?”

“Well if you’re going to take me out, you can’t just not come along,” Y/N pointed out with a small stifled giggle, Steve’s eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Thank fuck, that took so long,” Bucky yelped out from behind them, lazily wrapping his arm around Steve’s shoulders and rubbing his knuckles into the blond’s head, who just groaned and tried to shove him off. “Honestly, next time at least feed me if you’re going to take this long. Can we go home now? I’m seriously hungry for some pasta that’s not going to cost me a second mortgage.”

“Do you even have a first mortgage?” Steve asked with confusion and Bucky swatted at his head quickly, insisting that that wasn’t the point.

Y/N couldn’t help but smile as she watched the two, biting down on her lip as Steve met her eyes and smiled that same heart-melting smile. After climbing into a cab that she had waved down, Bucky told the story of tonight’s events from his own perspective (exaggerating details, Y/N was sure of it). She knew one day she would laugh at how impulsive Steve’s thinking was, but for right now, she was just happy with the fact that he had taken her hand in his as they drove home.

** ** ** ** ** ** ** 

Hi hello, just a quick other author’s note to big a huge thank you to @wxstedhexrt​ (aka the love of my life). Thank you for always reading my fics and being excited about my writing, thank you for helping me when I’m stumped and for giving me the title of this fic. Thank you for being fucking amazing and the best human ever <3 I really don’t know if I would’ve put this out without you so thank you so much <3

MASTERLIST

[puppy-phum]

TEN FACTS ABOUT ME

tagged by jaz @jazthespazz some ages ago ♥ also lowkey tagged by sierra @jockvillagersonly i suppose? am not sure. i just have vague memories of you doing this too and tagging a bunch of ppl :’D but i want you to see this anyway so tagging you too~

i bite my nails out of boredom, and especially my middle and ring fingers suffer from this. after wearing nail polish since last march, i’ve gotten this under control tho. now i have all my nails properly for the first time in literal years. 

i love summer despite the heat. it’s not normal over here to have heat during summer for an excessive amount of time so i enjoy every bit i can get. i don’t like being hot and sweaty and tired bc of the heat but i do wish that i could restore this warmth and all these lazy summer winds inside a bottle and drink it like wine when it’s -30C during winter.  

as a kid i had some very funny beliefs. for example, i was very much aware that my cd player didn’t have any ppl in it but i still felt bad if i listened to one song too many times on repeat during one day. my limit back then was four listens and then the ppl “playing it for me” got to rest.

i have never figured out how the gears in cars work. when i was in driving school, i was driving a car with gears and managed to change them somewhat correctly but i never figured out the logic. most of my life, my dad has had a car that has automatic gears so i never got the hang of that. but i did get my license either way, tho i don’t usually drive. 

i was incredibly proud of my grades when i was still in middle school (i was 16 when i left 9th grade and moved to high school). our grading system goes from 4 to 10, 10 being the best. the average of my 9th grade report card(?) was 9.8.

i am, even after all these years and all the controversies going on in it, in love with the manga loveless. it was my first love when it comes to animes, and the idea as well as the style of it make me sigh dreamily. 

i (or currently only my parents as i no longer live with them) live next to a horse racetrack as well as several stables. i’ve never ridden a horse other than a pony as a kid in some type of festival. i would love to tho. 

i’ve never owned any pets so i am extremely affectionate with all of my plushies. i don’t own that many currently (as a kid i had a huge pile) but i love to give them random kisses and cuddles. for the longest time as a kid, i treated all of my plushies like they were real animals, and i am still very careful with them so no excessive squishing or wringing!

i am a neat freak. i think i’ve inherited that from my dad’s side bc he and my grandma are too. existing and sharing spaces with other ppl is sometimes a struggle bc of this. 

my mom adores gardening and working in our yard. i, in the other hand, don’t know anything worse. it exhausts me to simply look at all of our plants and trees and bushes and see how much work goes into trying to maintain them. gotta give it to my mom tho; she’s doing her very best. 

that’s ten things i can come up with currently ^^ i hope you liked reading this! i am tagging @ashenlights and @i-am-just-a-kiddo ♥ i’d love to hear some random facts about you both ^^ also tagging @fengqing @leonzhng @inessencedevided @yiling-recesses @wuxien and @yibobibo to sometimes connect more with our amazing network. i hope you all are having a wonderful day! 

[snake-eggs]

Robert Knox is trying to rule the world with evil fashion and he is also probably giving his own daughter an extremely dangerous and potentially lethal illness without her knowledge just to win the Global Innovation Race

Yes, hello, it's me again, back with some more details about Miami that really are not important in the slightest... But, I love wandering around Hitman levels and listening in on dialogue and picking up on little details peppered throughout the World of Assassination, so I thought I'd share some more of my findings from not actually playing the game.

As many of you already know, there is a laboratory on the top floor of the Kronstadt building where whitecoats are working on some sort of biochemical suit. The suit Sierra is wearing monitors bodily functions including stress levels, brain chemistry, and her vitals. I also get the impression that maybe there's an audio or video feed as well, because one of the scientists comments that the suit lets them know everything that's going on in and around the person who is wearing it.

It should also be noted that Robert Knox bought Sanguine fashion after the deaths of Novikov and Margolis, and Sanguine is a luxury clothing company that makes dresses and suits for the ultra elite. It's not hard to imagine that by combining the suit tech with Sanguine's fashion, Robert Knox could have access to the locations, actions, and health data of the world's most powerful people.

Well, that sounds terrifying! I thought to myself. Good thing we're murdering this guy, I guess.

Anyway, I doubt I'm the first person to notice that little subplot, but amazingly it's not the only suit-related scandal to be found in Miami. Because not only does IOI have some really deviously brilliant ideas about what their targets get up to in order to gain power, but they also have some deviously brilliant ideas about the interpersonal lives of their targets.

When Robert Knox cycles through the laboratory on the top floor, he will tinker with the suit and check out its readings while mumbling to himself. Dialogue from him and from the scientists reveals that the suit not only monitors biochemistry, but can also make chemical injections to alter behavior and performance on the person wearing the suit. In this case, Robert Knox was injecting Sierra with dopamine reuptake inhibitors and increasing adrenaline production during the race in order to "give her an edge" and hopefully increase her performance in the race. On top of that, Robert Knox mentions that the suit has a significant radiation leak and that the effects on Sierra's health are unknown but prooobably won't be that bad, right?

Oh, also Sierra Knox has no idea that the suit is even capable of making injections 🙃

Again, I think it's probably a good thing we're going to kill this guy and I carry on with my day.

Now cut to a few weeks later. I'm on the train and spacing out, thinking about this one war movie we had to watch way back in middle school that was about a bunch of soldiers on a submarine facing a nuclear meltdown or something. One of the soldiers in the movie had vomited shortly after having been exposed to radiation in the submarine.

Wait a minute, I said to myself, immediately recalling some other dialogue from the Miami level. Why? Because I have spent so much at that stupid virtual racetrack that the entire thing has been ingrained in my memory like a Sherlock-style mind palace. I am instantly teleported from the real life train to the virtual club. Over the sound of Draufganger blaring across the dance floor, I recall a reporter stating that it was rumored Sierra was having stomach issues just before the race.

Now, a movie I barely remember from seven or eight years ago was hardly a reliable source for information on the symptoms of radiation poisoning, so I whipped out my phone and found that the first symptom of acute radiation sickness is in fact nausea and vomiting. AND that after that initial stage, the illness becomes latent and patients will feel better for a few hours to a few weeks before the more severe symptoms begin. Sierra was racing the day before, presumably in the radiation-riddled suit, and felt sick shortly afterward. Then she felt better during the race. Because I am now way too invested in the lives of fictional (and dead) Hitman side characters, I can't help but notice that this could easily line up with symptoms of acute radiation sickness. Which is of course beyond dangerous and often lethal.

Anyway, I'm not saying that Robert Knox is trying to rule the world with evil fashion and that he is also giving his own daughter an extremely dangerous and potentially lethal illness without her knowledge just to win the race, but I definitely think Robert Knox is trying to rule the world with evil fashion and that he is also giving his own daughter an extremely dangerous and potentially lethal illness without her knowledge just to win the race.

Also there should totally be a way to kill Sierra with radiation poisoning.

[starry-pierrot]

Sleepy Nightguards

Okay! So this is a big one.  Hope you all like it!

@jelly-belly-fish

Jelly was nervous as they clocked in for their third nightshift, they had just started their new security job at Freddy’s Pizzaplex and while all their friends were jealous they were working at the place that basically ruled their childhood; they were this close to being tired of it. Not because the job was horrible or anything but because of the long nights. Jelly wasn’t used to staying up till six in the morning and it was obvious the young adult was having some issues staying awake all night. 

But not tonight! The night before was a nightmare when Montgomery woke them up with a Halloween mask from storage. If it wasn’t for Freddy and the others they were sure they would have had a heart attack right there and then. But tonight they would make it through the night without falling asleep if it was going to kill them and to make sure it didn’t happen they brought a bunch of sugary snacks and soda along with some coffee. Their heart might stop but at least they’d be awake.

Jelly stepped out into the Pizzaplex with flashlight in hand, they were sure the bots were out and about by now mingling with each other. They still weren’t used to them, anxiety taking over before they could have a real conversation besides ‘Hello’ and ‘ Gotta do the job.’ But they continued on as they walked throughout the building. 

Like usual there wasn’t anything different about the building, no kids hiding, no burglars making their way in through the window and no random fires breaking out in the kitchen. They did see the counter was a little sticky with some soda, a day employee probably forgot to clean that but they continued on.

That was pretty much all they needed to do, the place is locked up for the night and no one would be getting in without the animatronics knowing about it. That meant one thing. Or it would if someone hadn’t snuck up on them.  “ Hello,Jelly.”  “ A-aha!” They jumped when a deep voice came from behind them, turning around to reveal it to be Freddy. “ Oh-uh-Hi..” It took a moment for their nerves to calm down. The bear gave a kind but apologetic smile, “ I see you are doing your rounds. Everything good?”  “ Yes. Uh-yeah no nothing weird going on..” They looked off to the side then back to the bear hoping that he wouldn’t stick around too long even if they did like the sound of his voice.  “ Good. I just wanted to check in. I know you’ve been having some trouble staying awake but that should pass eventually.”  “ Yeah it should-look uh I gotta go man the monitors. See ya Freddy!” Jelly sidestepped the bear giving him a small wave before taking off towards the security room. They weren’t ever sure if they were going to get used to the animatronics actually talking to them. When MJ introduced them they were not sure what to think but at least most of them were nice. But the gator and the twins can be shoved in a closet. 

The night continued on as Jelly watched the monitors, eating their candy and drinking their coffee to stay awake as they played on their phone. Sometimes she would catch the animatronics on screen, Roxane coaxing Montgomery into some arcade games while Chica cheered them on. Freddy was seen fixing up the plate placements in the party room while the twins mostly stayed in the playground area. Jelly didn’t realize it but they were getting tired, their head started to bob before jerking awake. A yawn slipping out here and there, maybe they were starting to rest their head against their arms as some YouTube video played on their phone.  What were they watching? The sound faded out- “ Jelly?” Freddy asked as he peaked his head into the security room, it had been a while since the guard had done their last round and while management didn’t make them keep a time card for it (the tech would be an extra 100 to put in the system) Freddy liked to make sure they at least did the bare minimum for their job. But he paused when he saw all the candy wrappers and empty soda and coffee bottles that littered the desk and floor. The bear shook his head and quietly walked in noting that the guard was fast asleep.  Quietly picking up the garbage and throwing it in the bin didn’t take long and when he was done he looked to the guard, they didn’t look very comfortable. The chair was a little too far back and he was sure if they slipped just a little further they’d fall right on their face.  “ It’s always the young ones.” Shaking his head with an amused smile he gently scooped up the guard off the chair, Jelly not making a peep in this process. The guards had dragged in some big bean bag chairs a while back and they were perfect for this sort of thing, walking over Freddy gently put the guard on one of the chairs making sure they were in a comfortable position. He left for a moment only to come back and tuck in a blanket from his room around them, a few of the others had followed him and poked their heads in but he held up his finger to tell them to be quiet.  “Let them sleep.”  ------- @the-pun-sexual-nerd The first hour had gone by quickly as MJ had done their rounds around the complex, the flashlight twirling in their hand as they walked about. Monty and Roxane had decided to go kart racing with Freddy being the mediator, Mj would have joined them but they were feeling like doing something else that was a bit more quiet than a racetrack.  Heading back to the security room they quickly turned on the monitors giving them a quick look over before they set up their phone, clicking on the streaming service they watch Lucifer on. They had recently gotten into the show and were trying to binge watch all four seasons within the week, it was a hyperfixation. Pulling out their snacks they leaned back in the chair as the episode started, it was a few episodes before the finale in season one.  As Mj watched the show they took quick looks from the monitors to the show from time to time and for a while it was all quiet. So quiet in fact they didn’t realize they had another member in the room. 

“ What are you watchin’, sugar?”  The guard squeaked and dropped their chips as they jumped, spinning the chair around only to find Chica standing there looking a little surprised. “ Chica! Jeez you scared me!”  “ Oh-opps.” The chicken laughed, giving an apologetic smile for the scare. Even if these guys were nice they really needed to quit it with being so quiet. Maybe they should get them all bells to put around their necks. “ Sorry about that, hun. I guess I don’t know just how quiet I can be.”  “ It’s okay just...don’t do that again. Please.”  “ I promise! Now what are you watching?” The larger animatronic leaned in to the now slightly moved phone on the desk. Mj quickly righted it and snagged their bag from the floor, luckily the snacks didn’t all fall out and there was still a good chunk of them left. 

“ Lucifer. It’s a tv show about Lucifer who’s a fallen angel and he doesn't like his life anymore so he leaves hell. And he ends up movin’ to Los Angeles and everything is good and great until someone gets killed outside his nightclub and that starts some- “ Dear I don’t mean to be rude but I have no idea what you just said.” 

Mj stopped for a moment realizing they went on another word bender with someone who probably isn’t even programmed to know about any of the themes within the television show. “ Oh-oops. Um-do you just want to watch it with me? We can start from the beginnin’.”

 “ I’d love to!” 

Hours later the two were sitting on the bean bag chairs, the phone sitting on a chair they had pulled over and propped up with a Freddy plushie. Mj had eaten all their snacks and was currently starting to nod off besides Chica.

“ Sweetheart I think you’re falling asleep there.” 

“ No I’m not! I’m awake!” 

Chica laughed and reached over to the phone to pause it, “ I know a sleepy human when I see one. Come on you got another two hours before your shift ends. You can take a nap.” 

Mj seemed to consider it for a moment before they sighed and laid back on the bean bag chair, “ Okay...I am a bit sleepy.” 

“ It’s all that junk food you ate. Makes you all sluggish.” 

“ But soda has caffeine in it. “ 

“ And humans can get caffeine crashes. Next time I’ll bring you a little something that's a bit more healthy okay?” Chica stood up moving the blanket closer to the human and tucking them in much like she would do to a child. 

“ Now get some sleep. I’ll let the others know to leave you alone, okay?” 

“Okay! Night, Chica.” Mj adjusted themselves for a moment before they finally settled down and closed their eyes. 

“ Night, darlin’.” 

-------

“ Zoey we need you to work tonight!”

“What!?” It was currently a Saturday in the afternoon, about four, it was the busiest time of the day. Her and Twigs were already up to their necks in kids trading tickets and stocking at quickly as they could at the prize counter. 

“ Katsu called out, she’s got something going on so I need you to fill in.” The manager didn’t even look up when he addressed her.

“ There isn’t anyone else? You know that's going to be like a fifteen hour work day right?” She’s been here since one and she doesn't get off until closing. That’s nine hours plus the twelve to six? 

“ It’s fine. I already cleared it with Jamie you need to come in tonight. “ Her manager then quickly left giving her no chance to reject the extra shift. 

“ Well shit.” Zoey sighed, it wasn’t that she didn’t like the night shift. No she loved it! But working so many hours was going to be a pain in the ass and she was sure she was going to get a major migraine in the morning. At least she would get to go home and eat before coming back. 

Well there was nothing she could do about it now as she needed the money and she wasn’t about to quit when there were literal talking animatronics at this job. Rolling her eyes she went back to stocking the plushies on the shelf. 

It was eleven fifty five as she clocked in ready to start this ridiculously long shift, at least she would be among friends who would make things fun. But first she had to handle some of her duties such as checking the facilities before turning on the monitors, though it didn’t take long for her to finish. 

“ Hey Zoey! You wanna go play some Mini Golf? I bet we can beat gator boy over there.” Roxanne walked into the security office with Monty hot on her heels. 

“ Oh no you won’t! You wanna start something wolfy?” And they were already starting with a little rivalry, this was fine. Zoey could play. 

“ What, Monty? Are you scared you’re gonna lose?” Zoey shot back with a smile feeling some energy awake inside her. 

“ Oh-ho! Someone is ready to kick some tail! “ Roxanne grabbed Zoey’s hand and began to tug her towards the door, “ Come on, Montgomery! Hurry up or we’ll leave you behind!” 

“ I bet I’ll get there first!” Without much warning the gator sped forward passing the two towards his section of the Pizzaplex, Roxane not wanting to lose scooped up Zoey and threw her over her shoulder before running after the other animatronic. 

“ Whoa-Hey!” 

The run to the golf course was surprisingly smooth considering she was on Roxanne's shoulder, she was gently deposited on the ground when the two arrived just behind Monty. The gator gloated a little but she was quickly given her own club before being tugged out onto the field.

 The three played for a bit all the while Monty and Roxanne shot words at each other, Zoey would say something here and there but she was realizing that the energy she had earlier was starting to give out. Her shots were getting worse too as they continued playing.

It was around hole fourteen that she stopped listening to the two playfully bicker and talk about whatever it was that they talked about. Soon her head was drooping, jerking awake and she tried to pay attention to the conversation. 

“You think their parents would make sure their kid cleans their hand before they touch my mohawk.” 

“ I had kids stick gum in my tail. But hey still gotta love them.” Zoey began to zone out again, this time her head falling forward before she jerked awake yet again. However this time Montgomery noticed. 

“ Hey, you doing okay there, missy?” He asked. 

“ What? Yeah just...a little tired. This is my second shift today and it was busy as hell.” Rubbing at her eyes she gave a yawn. 

“ Swear jar.” Roxanne piped in. 

“ I’m okay, I'm just tired. We can still play.” Zoey picked up her club and began walking to the next hole, the two animatronics looked at each other before following her. Deciding to keep an extra eye on her. 

But it soon became apparent that the human was just too tired to play, Zoey wasn’t the best player at mini golf but her shots were just terrible. 

“ Okay. That’s it.” Suddenly a tail wrapped around Zoey’s waist pulling her closer. Looking back she saw Montgomery giving her a look that said ‘Time to go’. 

“ You can’t be falling asleep on the golf course now. You’ll ruin the grass and your shots suck worse than usual.” 

“Gee thanks.” 

“ Come on I’ll take you back to my room.” 

This made Zoey freeze for a moment before she tried to pull away from his tail, “ Uh-no it’s fine I can just go sleep in the secr-” another yawn, “security room.” 

“ The green rooms are closer. Come on.” Without missing a beat the larger animatronic reached over and scooped her up into one of his arms. Zoey squeaked as her face went red but she didn’t fight it. 

How could she fight someone that was ten times stronger than her and wouldn’t take no for an answer?

Well-that was until she noticed Roxanne smiling at her. Suddenly her embarrassment was even stronger.

“ Okay-uh-Monty come on I can walk! “ 

“ You’re falling asleep on your feet.” 

“ Yeah Zoey. Just let him carry you.” Oh she was going to get smacked later for this she knew what she was doing! Zoey glared back at Roxanne watching her as she stayed behind. 

“ Monty put me down.” Zoey tried one last time. 

“ No.” 

The human sighed and gave in letting the animatronic carry her to the green rooms, not that she had a choice to begin with. It wasn’t a long walk and the room smelled of pizza and some type of air freshener. Monty walked over to the couch and dropped her on it before he tossed a blanket at her. 

“ There you go. Now go to bed, we'll play another round when you won't ruin my grass by falling asleep on it.” Montgomery walked over to the lights and flipped them off turning the room into a dark enough space that would be easy to sleep in. 

“ Okay fine...just wake me up before six okay?” Looking back over at him while she pulled the pillows closer she saw him pause and look back. 

“ Yeah don’t worry.. Good night, little missy.” 

With that he walked out leaving Zoey alone in his room, she could feel her heart beating a little quicker than normal and she wanted to bury her face into the pillow and die. 

But something caught her eye, it was a Montgomery plush. Zoey would later refuse to admit that she had been cuddling with it. 

----

@trollartistry

Today was not a good day.

Nemi yawned as he clocked into his nightshift, irritated and grumpy. The day had been a long one, first he couldn’t get enough sleep as his body just didn’t want to cooperate with him. He was sure he didn’t fall asleep till about three hours before his nightshift which was not enough time for him to be fully rested. Then his drier broke and he was forced to dry his uniform with a blow dryer taking up the time he would usually use to make a decent meal for himself. All he had was some toast and yogurt before he had rushed to his car so he wouldn’t be late. 

He didn’t need management getting on his ass tonight. 

The male gave out half-assed greetings to the animatronics and any other guards stationed with him tonight as he started his rounds, checking the bathrooms, the arcade and making sure no kids were hiding somewhere in the ball pit. It all seemed well and good until there was a sudden commotion just irritating enough to get on his last nerve. Quickly heading to the party hall he found that Moondrop was being berated by one of the other guards, Zoey. Once he took another look around he found that Roxane was yelling at the other animatronic while her tail was slightly colored pink, being held back by Freddy while Monty and Chica were off to the side. 

“ You can’t just dye her fur! You know management would-”

“ It was just a joke!” “ No one messes with my fur and gets away with it!” 

“ Now will you all calm down? There is no reason to-” 

“ENOUGH!”

The room was suddenly very quiet as all their heads snapped to Nemi, the man glaring at them with a scowl on his face. Nemi walked forward, “ I’m not dealing with this tonight. Zoey keep that creep of yours under control. Roxane go wash your tail out before it stains your fur. And everyone else keep it fucking quiet!” The others were clearly unsettled by his attitude as usually he’d be nothing more than a sweetheart but clearly something had irritated the man. 

But before anyone could say anything he stormed off towards the security room, why were they all so chaotic? And it had to be on a night where he was already having a bad day. Angrily sitting down at the security rooms table he let out a long winded sigh and held his head in his hands. At least now it was quiet. 

“ Nemi?” 

Oh for fucks sake. “ What, Freddy?” 

The animatronic bear stepped in the room and walked over standing next to the irritated guard, “ Are you alright? You seem to be upset about something.” 

“ Oh no. No I’m not upset. It’s not like there isn’t some dumb mess I have to clean up that I didn’t make. Or that my dryer broke and I barely ate anything or that-that, I couldn’t take a nap and I’m tired as all hell-shit.” Nemi could feel tears coming to his eyes, quickly wiping them away before they could fall. Why did Freddy have to come in now? 

“...Would you like to take a nap in my room?” 

The question caught the guard off guard, Nemi snapping his head towards the bear in surprise. “ What?” 

“ My room. It’s quiet and the others will stay out of the room. I’m sure Zoey can handle the duties for tonight.” 

“ No.” The bear’s ears roasted upwards as his eyebrows rose, seemingly confused at the rejection. “ No-it’s fine I’ll just-” 

“ Nemi you clearly need to rest.” Freddy tried to argue. 

“ No I’m fine. Just go back out and leave me alone for a while okay?” The man sighed and turned around thinking the bear would do what he asked. He wasn’t about to go sleep in Freddy’s room of all places. 

“ I see we will be doing this the hard way.” 

“ What?” Suddenly Nemi was being picked up. No correct that he was suddenly being bridal carried by Freddy. Nemi felt all his anger and his face flush red all at one. “ Put me down! Freddy!” 

“ Don’t squirm now. You need to rest and if I have to give you a little tough love then so be it.” The bear’s grip was like iron as Nemi tried to get out of it. 

“ Freddy seriously! Put me down right now!” But the bear ignored him as he carried Nemi out of the security room and towards the greenrooms. Nemi just hoped to god that none of the others would see him in this embarrassing state. It didn’t take too long for them to enter Freddy’s room and by the time they entered Nemi had stopped squirming so aggressively having grown tired from his already low energy. 

“ Here we are.” Freddy walked over to the couch and gently set the man on it, but before he could make a dash for the door Freddy had him wrapped up in a blanket like some kind of burrito. Nemi knew this was the type of wrapping they used when there was an obviously overstimulated kid that needed to calm down. 

“ Freddy unwrap me right now! “ 

“ No I don’t think I will. Nemi you need to rest.” The bear was pulling pillows over into a small pile before he gently knocked the man over so he could lay down. 

“ I am not a child!” 

“ No you certainly are not, but you are acting like one.” Freddy knelt down besides him, “ Nemi. I am only doing this because I care-we all care about you.” The bear looked away for a moment, “ I just want you to take care of yourself. You’re stressed.” 

Nemi’s anger suddenly deteriorated as he saw the care in Freddy’s eyes, he could feel his cheeks getting hot with the bear this close to him and if this kept up any longer he was going to say something stupid. “ Fine. I’ll take a stupid nap.” 

Freddy beamed at the confirmation, “ Good. And when you wake up I want you to apologize to the others.” 

The man grumbled but nodded as he finally settled into the couch, Freddy stood up ruffling the man's hair before walking over to the wall and lowering the lights. 

“ Have a good night, Nemi. I’ll wake you up an hour before your shift ends.” 

The man said nothing but Freddy didn’t seem to mind as he walked out quietly closing the door. Nemi Laid there on the couch still frustrated that he was carried like a child and told to go to bed as if Freddy was his parent. 

Wait. 

He was carried by Freddy. 

Like a groom.

No one heard the embarrassed groan that came from the man. 

[violetwolfraven]

Already Home

((Angsty one-shot time. Good luck, y’all. This is to Already Home by A Great Big World.))

...

You say

Jack was a goddamn idiot.

For getting on that stupid train, for crossing the country for someone who didn’t know he existed, for wanting Santa Fe so badly in the first place when he’d never seen so much as a picture of it outside his mother’s stories.

Love is what you put into it

His hands had been numb opening that letter, addressed to Anita Kelly-Sullivan. The boy who delivered had been paid enough that he’d looked everywhere, asking all around until he found out that Anita was dead, but her best friend owned a theatre on the Upper East Side. Her best friend told him that Anita was dead, but she’d had a son. Anita was dead, but her son worked as a Newsie and lived at the Duane Street Lodging House.

You say

Anita Kelly-Sullivan. A woman who’d moved to New York to become a dancer, but hurt her leg before she ever made it big. Who’d dreamed of owning a theatre with her best friend, but never recovered in time to get it.

Jack had never told anyone about her. The others probably assumed he didn’t remember his parents, the way Race, Smalls, and Crutchie only had a few vague memories of theirs.

Until the day when Davey walked in on him with that letter, completely in shock.

He’d wordlessly handed the letter to his lover, with only a brief explanation.

“My grandfather is dyin’. He spent his last dollar to send this letter for my mama.”

That I’m losing my will

“I have to go, Davey.”

Davey had thought it was a bad idea. The letter had taken a few days to even get to New York, and it had taken that boy weeks to find Jack when it did.

Jack’s grandfather didn’t know he existed. Anita Kelly had sent one last letter home when she got married, and never been able to afford to write to her father again after that.

Jack had always assumed, from the way his mama talked, that he was already dead.

That man was the one from the stories. The vaquero, the cowboy, Jack had always wanted to be.

Maybe it wasn’t smart to cross the country to say goodbye to someone who didn’t know he existed, but Jack still felt like he had to.

Don’t you know that you’re all that I think about

Davey’s face had said that he didn’t approve, but he said goodbye at the train station with the others as if they were friends. In the Lodging House beforehand, he said goodbye with a kiss.

“I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Jack wasn’t looking for a family or home anymore. Just closure. His mother had never gotten to say goodbye to her father, so he would for her. Then he’d come right home.

You make up a half of the whole

It had still hurt to watch Davey’s face get smaller and smaller from that train.

You say

The train ride wasn’t how Jack had always imagined it, but he guessed he should have expected that.

All he kept thinking about was how though he didn’t say it, Davey’s face had told what he was really thinking.

About how Jack was leaving him.

That it’s hard to commit to it

Jack knew that the others had a hard time believing him that he was really over that fantasy of Santa Fe. He saw the look on Race’s face when he looked at a western through a store window, the uncertainty whenever Crutchie called him ‘Cowboy.’ They were still scared that Jack would just pack up and leave them. Not that he could blame them.

You say

He saw now that they were his family. They were his home. He would never leave them without plans to come back.

He would never leave Davey.

Still, Davey’s words in their private goodbye stuck with him, replaying all through the train ride.

“I know you have to go. I know how hard it is for you to want to stay in one place, and... I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

Jack wished he could tell him how homesick he was from the second the train pulled out of the station.

That it’s hard standing still

Santa Fe was hotter than he was expecting.

Jack probably should have seen that coming. His mama had always said that he couldn’t imagine how hot New Mexico summers were, and September was the tail end of it.

He’d asked for directions, gone to the address on the letter, and found a middle-aged woman who looked too much like his mother sweeping the porch.

She’d asked him in English what he was doing there.

It took Jack a few seconds to answer, and when he did, it was in shaky, slightly-panicked Spanish.

“You sent a letter to New York for Anita Kelly-Sullivan. Only... only she’s... I... my name is Jack. Jack Kelly. She never got to tell you about me.”

The woman had gaped at him, clearly connecting the dots, doing the math on how old he was, scanning his face, then shakily responded.

“I... you’re Anita’s boy?”

Jack nodded, “She died when I was 5. I’m sorry.”

The woman had closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then given him a sad smile, “I guess I’m your Aunt Sophia. I’m so sorry. You’re too late.”

It turned out that Jack’s grandfather was already dead, and while Sophia would have been happy to have him stay, she was understanding when he said he had a family to go back to. If anything, she seemed happy that Jack wasn’t alone, that he’d had someone after his mom died.

Don’t you know that I spend all my nights

So, Jack gave his Aunt Sophia Medda’s address so she could write if she wanted, filled her in on his mother’s accident, how their family had fallen into poverty after they had him, and how she’d gotten sick after her husband went to prison. He was sorry he didn’t have more to give her, but just knowing for sure what had happened to her sister seemed to be enough.

Knowing that he had an aunt out west... well, it was more than enough for Jack.

Counting backwards the days till I’m home

It wasn’t until he got to the train station that he realized he didn’t have enough to get back to New York.

If only New York wasn’t so far away

Jack was stuck in Santa Fe. He should have listened to Davey.

I promise this city won’t get in our way

The man working at the station said Jack could get maybe halfway, but unless he wanted to be stranded somewhere in Missouri, he shouldn’t get on a train.

When you’re scared and alone

God, Davey and the others were going to think he just left them.

So, instead of letting them believe that, Jack did what he did have enough money for; he sent a letter. His handwriting was terrible, made worse by anger and fear, but he sent it, hoping they would understand.

Just know that I’m already home

Sophia was surprised when he showed back up on her doorstep, but willing to let him stay with her until he had enough money to go.

Jack just had to hope he could find a job in the morning.

...

I say

Davey was trying not to be worried. After all, maybe Jack had just lost track of time catching up with his family and missed the train. There would be another tonight. No need to jump to conclusions when half the Lodging House was already panicking.

Jack hadn’t been on the train they expected him back on.

That we’re right in the heart of it

“Davey!”

Davey shook himself out of his thoughts as the door downstairs banged. Race, Romeo, and Crutchie were running up to him, what looked like a letter in their hands.

“It’s from Jack,” Crutchie said grimly.

“It’s bad,” Romeo added.

A love only we understand

Scenarios raced through Davey’s head about how Jack found his blood family and no longer wanted his chosen one, he was staying in Santa Fe, he was abandoning them but he pushed those aside to read the letter.

Jack was not abandoning them for Santa Fe. He was stuck, and didn’t have enough money to get back.

I’ll come home as soon as I can. Until I have enough money, I’m staying with my aunt. Don’t worry about me, any of you. Especially you, Davey. Tell Race not to try to teach anyone to swim this year. Dave, you don’t wanna know what happened last time. I miss you all, but with luck, I’ll be home soon. Love, Jack

That was what the last paragraph of the letter said, and Davey knew it was as close as he could get to safely telling him he loved him, but that wasn’t the part he was worried about.

I will bend every light in this city

Jack wrote messy normally, but he only wrote this messy when he was upset—scared or angry.

He was worried he wouldn’t be able to get home, and Davey wasn’t about to let that happen.

And make sure they’re shining on you

“How many of the others would be willing to work extra to send Jack money to get home?”

“I will,” Race said firmly.

“I think everyone will,” Crutchie admitted, fidgeting with the grip of his crutch.

If only New York wasn’t so far away

Davey folded up the letter, putting it in his pocket.

I promise this city won’t get in our way

“We’re gonna bring him home,” he told the others firmly, “If we all work together, we can do it.”

And when you’re scared and alone, just know that I’m already home

...

“So, Racetrack and Albert are the ones who cause trouble?” Sophia asked with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed, “And sometimes Crutchie and Romeo, too. And they’re a handful, but at least I can tell when something’s bothering one of them. It’s the quiet ones I need to keep an eye on.”

“You have a lot of friends,” she noted.

“I do.”

Jack had been stuck in Santa Fe for a month now, saving what he could, but he also had to help Sophia pay for food, now that he was living with her.

His aunt smiled at him, “You’re so much like Anita, you know. She had a lot of friends, too. Such a big heart. I can see you got that from her.”

Jack snorted, “Well, I didn’t get it from my father.”

When life takes its own course

He still didn’t like to think about that man. Jack’s mama had deserved the best husband in the world, and instead, she’d gotten Francis Sullivan, a man who’d let a cruel world turn him cruel, too, instead of wanting to make it better.

Jack had sworn never to be like him. That was why he’d taken his mother’s maiden name, using the middle name she’d always called him by as his first. He’d decided to carry her legacy instead of his father’s.

He’d told Davey that just before leaving. He wondered what Davey was doing now, if he was back in school yet or if he’d even kept with the newsies without Jack there.

He really hoped so. Davey needed not to be alone and the others needed someone to take care of them until he got home.

“You want to know something else about your mama?”

Jack nodded eagerly. In the last month, he’d already learned more about his mother than he’d remembered on his own.

“She could never hide her feelings from me,” Sophia said simply, “When she was happy, or sad, or angry... or when she was in love.”

Jack froze.

He really liked Sophia. And he knew that the west was somewhat safer than New York for people like him, if only a little, but he wasn’t sure if his aunt was one of the people who didn’t care who other people loved. After all, she did go to church every Sunday and all that.

“You told me about your friend, Katherine,” she said, “The reporter. Is it her?”

Judging by her tone, she didn’t really think it was Katherine. Crap.

“Uh, no,” Jack responded, “I did court Kath for a while, but we broke up.”

“That girl, Sarah, then? Or was it Smalls? I can’t keep all of your friends’ nicknames straight.”

Jack was now regretting telling her about each and every one of his friends.

Because though he hadn’t told her about his relationship, he had told her about Davey.

Sophia smiled, “It’s not a girl at all, is it?”

Judging her reaction as safe as Esther and Mayer’s had been, Jack slowly shook his head.

Sometimes we just don’t get to choose

“Did you know that your grandfather had a male partner when he was young?”

“What?!”

Sophia laughed, “Many cowboys did. Not many women out west in those days, and some of them would have preferred men, even if there were. Unfortunately, Papa’s partner died young, but if he hadn’t, Papa might not have ever fallen in love with your grandmother.”

Jack was still wrapping his head around that information when his aunt spoke again.

“You must miss him.”

I’d rather be there next to you

He managed to nod, “I do. A lot.”

“Well, I hope I get to meet this man of yours someday. Which one is he?”

“Davey.”

Promise you’ll wait for me

...

Wait for me

“Damn it,” Davey swore.

Everyone had been slinging nearly twice as many papes as they usually did, Race was being more careful with betting, and even Kath had chipped in as much as she could spare since her father kicked her out. They were saving every little bit they could to send to Jack, but they barely had enough to send a letter, let alone any money in it.

It was nearly November. Which meant Davey had to choose between sending what they had to Jack or putting it toward keeping everyone alive through the winter.

Jack would know what choice to make, but he wasn’t here.

Wait till I’m home

As of now, they could pay for a letter to Santa Fe, but they’d only be able to put a couple dollars in it. Nowhere near enough for a train ticket.

“I could move out of my apartment,” Kath offered, “Staying in the Lodging House would be cheaper. I could—“

“No, Kath,” Davey mumbled, “Kloppman’s reluctant to let Smalls and Sniper stay, and they’ve been here since they were Littles. You’re a full grown woman.”

“To get Jack home, I bet I could convince him to—“

“We don’t have a bunk to spare, anyway.”

Kath shut up, still looking like she was thinking hard.

She’d already done so much for them, putting every cent she earned that didn’t need to be spent on rent or food toward bringing Jack home. She’d been taking every story available lately, from big articles like she usually took to the kind of flower show reviews she hated. And all of this was especially notable on the count that as a woman, Kath didn’t make as much as most reporters, anyway.

“Kath, you’ve done more than enough,” Davey muttered, “Winter’s coming up, and now that you’re out of your dad’s house, it’s going to be hard on you, too.”

Kath shrugged, “My reporter salary is more than most of you newsies make combined.”

“That don’t mean you can afford to be careless with it,” Davey insisted, “Kath, you’re gonna have to save up to buy yourself some real winter clothes. Less newspapers sold in colder months means less income for you, too.”

The look on her face said that she’d already thought of that, and had been planning on helping, anyway.

“I miss him,” she said finally, “And I’m worried. We haven’t heard from him in two months.”

“Believe me, I know.”

Kath sighed, “So... what are we gonna do? Save for winter, or keep saving for Jack?”

Davey really hated this choice, but he knew what he had to choose.

All I had was this feeling inside of me

“Romeo can barely fit into his shoes,” he mumbled, “Finch needs a new shirt. And that’s not even taking into account all the new kids who are gonna come ‘cause they lost parents to cold or sickness.”

Kath nodded grimly, “It’s what Jack would do.”

“I know,” Davey admitted.

The only thing I have ever known

...

If only New York wasn’t so far away

Santa Fe wasn’t even cold in winter, which made Jack feel strangely guilty. It made him think more of his kids, of Kath, Sarah, and especially of Davey, and how they had to be nearly freezing to death up in New York.

“I’m worried about them,” he admitted to Sophia.

“I’m sure they’ll be fine, Jack.”

He knew better than her that some of them probably wouldn’t be, and he wasn’t even close to having enough to go to them.

He hoped the flu didn’t come through too bad this year. They’d lost kids to it in the past.

The only thing worse than watching a kid die would be losing one and not being there for them in the end, not being able to even try to ease their pain.

Oh, God, Jack hoped Davey, Crutchie, and Race were handling things.

...

I will be there every step of the way

Davey swore under his breath as he took a step out of the bunk room for a five second break.

They didn’t know who had brought the flu home, but it was bad. Half the Lodging House was down, including Race and Crutchie. Davey was the only leader still standing.

Well, besides Katherine, technically, but they weren’t letting her in the house.

They had some medicine, bought with the money they were going to use to bring Jack home, but they couldn’t afford to give it to everyone; just the really bad cases. The cases that looked like somebody was about to die.

God, if Jack had been doing this every winter since he was 14, Davey was amazed he was still sane.

“You alright, kid?” Kloppman asked.

Davey nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Kloppman raised an eyebrow, “That’s what Jack always used to say.”

“Especially when he wasn’t,” Davey mumbled, “I know. Fine. I’m not fine. Is that what you wanted me to say?”

“Bottlin’ it up never helps. I know Jack leavin’, even when it was temporary, hurt you more than the others. I know what he means to you.”

A smile flickered across Davey’s face, half-delirious. He’d always suspected Kloppman knew about them, and judging by the tone of his voice, he definitely did.

“Kid, it’s okay to miss him.”

“I do miss him. Every minute. But he’s not the one who needs me right now.”

Davey took a deep breath, grabbing a few handkerchiefs off the drying line, and headed back for the bunks full of sick kids.

“Hey, Davey?”

Davey stopped, “Yeah?”

“Thanks. For takin’ care of the boys while Jack’s gone.”

“No problem.”

Davey couldn’t imagine not taking care of them when they clearly needed him.

They needed Jack, in reality, but he would have to do for now.

God, he barely could. Especially when he needed Jack, too.

...

And when you’re scared and alone

Spring coming in Santa Fe wasn’t as noticeable as it was in New York.

Counting back the days, Jack realized that he’d been there for almost six months.

He’d been in his mother’s birthplace, his childhood fantasy, for six months.

Shit. He’d been trying not to think about it. How long he’d been gone. How different his family must be and how much they must miss him.

All he did was think about them. His brothers and sisters. The only family he’d ever known. His lover, Davey, that wonderful boy waiting for him back home.

Hopefully still waiting for him. If Davey had moved on by now, Jack wouldn’t blame him.

God, how had he taken so long to realize that they were the family he’d been looking for?

Why was he just realizing now that Davey was his Santa Fe?

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?”

Sophia was standing on the porch behind him, and Jack had a sudden realization that from his new job to the house he was staying in with his aunt, he hadn’t spoken English in months.

He’d always loved his mama’s language. Loved speaking it with Jojo or whoever else happened to be around who understood.

He still loved it. Honestly, Jack couldn’t remember feeling as close to his mother as he did here.

But she’d been gone a long time, and he had more people he loved now still alive back in New York.

As hard as he’d tried, Davey had never been able to get Spanish. Jack missed laughing at his terrible pronunciation, then just switching to English and spending the whole night talking between kisses.

“I’m always thinkin’ ‘bout him,” he mumbled.

“I’m sure he’s thinking of you, too,” Sophia said.

Jack hoped Davey wasn’t feeling as lonely as he was right now, clinging to memories and missing the person who had become the embodiment of his dreams.

Davey wasn’t Santa Fe. He was New York.

He was Jack’s home.

Just know that I’m already home

...

Davey stared off in the direction of the train station on the first sunny day of the season.

It had been over six months since he last saw Jack Kelly.

They hadn’t lost anybody this winter, but it had come close. Now, the weather was starting to warm up, and Davey was debating whether or not to start saving for a train ticket again or not.

He was sure if Jack was still alive, he was doing everything he could to get home. He could use all the help he could get.

But on the other hand, after how close they had come to losing Crutchie, to losing Smalls and Blink, Davey wasn’t sure they shouldn’t just start saving up for next winter.

Still, he stared towards the train station. He still had dreams that he’d see a familiar silhouette coming home from there sometimes.

“Wanna go sell down there?” Crutchie asked.

They were selling together today. Les was selling with Mush.

He just shrugged, “If you want to.”

Davey was finding it hard to show enthusiasm for anything lately. He was getting to be nearly as good a liar as Jack, just smiling and joking around to hawk papers.

“He’s comin’ home. As soon as he can. Ya know that, right?”

“You don’t have to put on a happy face for me, Crutchie. I know you miss him as much as I do.”

Crutchie took a deep breath, “Yeah. Yeah, I mean, of course I do. He’s my brother, blood be damned. And we both know Race runs away to Sheepshead to hide how he does, too.”

The three of them were messes, weren’t they, desperately trying to keep the others from losing hope? Especially when they were the ones breaking the most from this.

Davey tossed an arm around his friend’s shoulders and squeezed, “Kath’s got a front page story again today. Let’s sell a ton for her.”

Crutchie grinned, elbowing him, “Of course. Bet I can sell more’n you.”

“In your dreams, Morris.”

His laugh sounded fake, but Davey didn’t let himself think about it.

One day, someone would come home from the train station.

Until then, Davey would make sure home was still there for him.

With one last glance towards the station, Davey turned and headed towards his and Crutchie’s selling spot.

Just know that I’m already home

Part 2 here!

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

“You’re an idiot.” “But you love me.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Raising his eyebrow, Race grinned. “But you love me.”

“For whatever reason, I do love you.” Spot shook his head, grinning at his boyfriend.

Race looked over at him, eyebrows raised. “So why am I an idiot this time?”

“Let me count the reasons.” Spot chuckled. “Actually, this time is because you think you can get your mom another teapot for Christmas when she already has two.”

Race laughed, holding up his hands in innocence. “You can never have too many teapots. Besides she loves the two that I’ve already given her.”

“You can only use one teapot at a time . . . you gotta get a bit more creative with your present this year, Racetrack.” Spot gave him a look.

Race paused, biting his lip. “What do you suggest, oh smart one, Spottie?”

“She ain’t my mudder, Race. I’ve got to figure out what I’m getting my own mudder for Christmas.” Spot exclaimed.

Nodding his head, Race shrugged. “She’s the hardest person to shop for . . . she’s got everything she’s ever wanted and I don’t know what to give her.”

“How about you get her a photo of you and your siblings?” Spot raised an eyebrow, an idea coming to his mind. “We did that a few years ago - got all my siblings together and surprised my ma with the photo on Christmas morning.”

His eyes lit up, snapping his fingers. “SPOT, you’re brilliant! That’ll be perfect for Medda.”

Pulling his phone out, his fingers flew across the screen quickly. His tongue poked out as Spot heard the familiar swoosh of the text message being sent before Race locked his phone. “We’ve got a date on Saturday in the park with my siblings.”

“What the hell am I getting myself into?” Spot grumbled, giving Race a look. “Who’s going to take the photos?”

Race bit his lip, shaking his head. “Well . . . . I dunno.”

Smirking, Spot shook his head. “Well, do you want a photo of just you and the siblings or do you want everyone in the photo?”

“Uhhhh . . . .” Race, for once, was actually silent at the question. “I don’t know.”

Spot put a hand on his shoulder. “How about you ask Romeo or Specs to take the photo of all of us and I can take the photo of your siblings?”

Race relaxed, pulling his phone out to text someone. “Thanks, Spottie. You’re a savior.”

“Let’s not go that far. Besides, I’ll need your help with my ma.” Spot grinned, listening to Race groan at the thought.

Saturday

In the days leading up to Saturday, there were several questions posed in his siblings’ group chat. Smalls, their younger sister, wanted to know the color scheme. Snipper had a smart aleck remark to something Jack had said. Jack wanted to know where in the park they were going to meet. And Albert wanted to know how long this was going to take, as it’s cold and the dead of winter.

Race had rolled his eyes more times than he could count in those days but he was actually looking forward to getting his siblings together to surprise Medda. Though the woman had everything in the world, an updated photo would be a great addition to the mini shrine she had in the living room for each of her babies.

Race and Spot were the first to arrive at the Bethsheda Terrace. Looking at his phone, Race tapped his toes, while Spot raised an eyebrow. “Will you calm down? They’ll be here, maybe a few minutes late, but they’ll be here.”

Spot kept an eye on Race, not knowing why he was nervous. “Hey, what’s going on? Why are you all fidgety?”

“What if she doesn’t like it?” Race bit his lip, fiddling with his hands.

Spot reached out and laced their fingers together, giving them a squeeze. “She’s going to love it, Race. Simply because you all took time out of your busy schedules to come together to get photos done.”

Race nodded, looking across the park. A smile slid on his face when he saw Jack, Katherine, Albert, and Finch walking towards them. “Yo, Racer could ya have picked a colder day to do this?”

Race laughed, nodding, pulling Jack into a hug with a few hearty slaps on his back. “Of course . . . why would I take weather into consideration when I texted you about this?”

Kat laughed, pulling him into a hug as she greeted him enthusiastically. “I think this is a great idea for Medda. She’s going to love it.”

“Spottie gets all the credit . . . he’s the one that came up with it.” Race said, praising his boyfriend with a grin. “I was just going to give her another teapot.”

Albert and Jack groaned. Albert reaching over to cuff Race on the back of his head. “You idiot, she already had two that you gave her.”

“That’s when Spot suggested we do this.” Race grinned, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Thank goodness Spot Conlon is around to keep Race from getting momma a new teapot!” Came a new voice as everyone grinned seeing Smalls, Itey, Romeo, Specs, and Sniper walking up to the group.

Hugs and greetings were exchanged before everyone turned to Race. “So how is this going to go down?”

“We’re going to do a couple of photos of just the siblings then we’ll do some with the whole group. And if you want to take individual couple photos, we can do that too.” Race said, looking around the group. “Any questions?”

None were asked as the siblings lined up against the wall - Jack, Race, Albert in the back with Smalls and Snipper in front of them. Spot had his digital camera, taking several shots as the partners stood behind him shouting out directions. “Jack, put your arm down.” “Race stand tall, don’t slouch.” “Albert, smooth down your hair. Geez didn’t you run a brush through it this morning?”

Spot chuckled to himself as the requests flew. He snapped about twenty photos before telling them to wait a second while he checked out the photos. He had a few that would work for the photo Race would give Medda. Handing off the camera to Specs, Race beckoned the significant others to join the siblings.

“Now all of you have to smile pretty for the camera.” Romeo yelled, looking the group over. Several photos were taken in quick succession before Specs reviewed them.

“Albert, quit looking at Finch.” “Race, spot sticking your tongue out.” “Why can’t you all be like Jack and Kat and just look at the camera?”

Chuckles rippled through the group as Specs eyed them. “Albert, Race, look at me and smile pretty. Spot do your little smirk. Alright, I’m going to take a couple more. Smalls, Sniper, I know you two know how to smile.”

After several minutes, Specs lowered the camera, motioning that he was all done with the groups. “Any couples want photos taken?”

Several agreed, as Race pulled Spot to his side. “This turned out to be a really good idea.”

“It’s because you’re a genius.” Race leaned over and kissed him. “Thanks for saving my butt.”

Spot chuckled. “Anytime snookums. Besides, your butt is too pretty to be in trouble all the time.”

Race threw his head back and laughed, his laughter echoing off the enclosed space. “That makes little to no sense but whatever floats your boat.”

Spot threw his arm around his waist as they watched Jack and Kat get their photos taken. Race grinned seeing his siblings milling around, all coming together for a good cause.

Christmas Morning

“Momma, here’s your last gift.” Race grinned, handing over a box. Somehow he had convinced his siblings to let him go last.

Race watched Medda’s face as she unwrapped the gift. Setting the top of the box aside, she pushed the tissue paper aside, gasping at what was lying underneath. “Oh Race . . .”

“Hey we had a hand in it.” Jack and Albert complained, looking between their brother and Medda.

Medda looked over at Race with a smile. “Thank you Race. I love it. And thank you all for getting together to get it done.”

“Uh there’s worse ways to spend an afternoon.” Sniper spoke up, a grin on her face.

Small pushed her older sister with a grin. “You had just as much fun as the rest of us. It’s enshrined in that photo that you actually smiled.”

Race grinned at the family that surrounded him, feeling happy that Medda liked her present and everything had fallen into place perfectly.

Thanks @wide-eyed--wonderer for sending this in!!

[racebox-of-higgars]

Forcing The Last Page

The third work in the current series I’m working on - The Unkindest Cut Of All. Please read the other parts first, otherwise this won’t make much sense.  

MAJOR SUICIDE TW - please stay safe and do not read if this could potentially be triggering for you. 

Summary: "Race closed the door behind him with a gentle click, leaning his back against it. His hands trembled and his breaths came in short, ragged bursts. His whole body shook violently as the tears he had spent so long holding back finally burst free, cascading down his face and carving paths into his skin. His nails pressed into his palms, forming small red dents in the pale skin. His fingers twisted in his hair and he pressed his face into his knees and completely fell apart."

The aftermath of Jack and Race's argument.Title from Turtles All The Way Down by Sammy Copley - loosely based on the same song. 

Link to AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31436591 

@angelslibrary 

Race closed the door behind him with a gentle click, leaning his back against it. His hands trembled and his breaths came in short, ragged bursts. His whole body shook violently as the tears he had spent so long holding back finally burst free, cascading down his face and carving paths into his skin. His nails pressed into his palms, forming small red dents in the pale skin. His fingers twisted in his hair and he pressed his face into his knees and completely fell apart.

Jack didn’t want him. Jack hated him.

He had looked up to Jack almost his entire life, and Jack hated him.

Down the hall, a door slammed.

Jack had known, of course he had. Jack knew everything about him, and saw in the way he had ducked his eyes, made himself as small as possible in every moment he could so he could slip by as inconspicuous as possible that he wasn’t well. It wasn’t like Race had a choice though. It was either hide it with bittersweet lies or tell the truth and let all of his burdens weigh down on Jack, and that he just couldn’t do.

He wiped his eyes with shaking hands, taking a deep breath as he slowly pulled out a notepad - the one Jack hand bought him with the tiny dinosaurs in the margin -  and a pen. If he was going to do this, he would do it properly. He would say his goodbyes.

He had no idea where to start.

There were a million things he wanted to say, but no right words to say them. There were thousands upon thousands of unsaid words that would stay unsaid forever now, because Race just didn’t know how to put them onto paper.

I hate you.

You’re my best friend.

You bring out the worst in me.

You are the best in me.

I need help.

I love you.

All things that would never be said.

Jack. I know that you’re angry with me at the moment, and probably will be forever, but I still had to say goodbye.

He finally put pen to paper, his writing almost trembling, hesitant as it appeared on the page. He couldn’t think of a single thing he wanted to say. The walls were closing in on him and everything was too hot, too much, and it was all too overwhelming and he couldn’t breathe.

Someone help me, I can’t breathe!

There are a million things I want to tell you, I should tell you, but there are no words to say them, so I’ll leave them unsaid and hope you know them anyway. I know that isn’t possible, but here we are. There is no right way to say goodbye.  

You have questions, so many questions and none of them have sensible answers, none of them have answers that I can rationalise, but I’ll try to answer them as best I can.

Race put the pen down, gasping for air as he clamped a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle his violent, unforgiving sobs that took everything from him and more. He could do this. How hard was saying goodbye, really?

He forced himself to put pen to paper.

The first question - why? The simplest answer is “I don’t know.” The long winded answer is difficult to explain but I’ll do my best.

It’s like I’m drowning. It sounds cliche, right? But things started going downhill just as college started, but you knew that. It was all too much at once and I didn’t know how to handle it. Suddenly I wasn’t the genius everyone expected me to be. My grades were dropping and for some reason I didn’t care. Everyone had expected so much of me, and I think I crumbled under the pressure. There’s a triumph in crashing down when you’re supposed to be soaring.

Race’s hand flew across the paper now, the words appearing in his mind and on the page almost simultaneously. There was so much in him that he needed out, and this was how he was going to do it. Jack deserved to know. He couldn’t leave without giving him that.

The second - why wasn’t I enough? Again, there is no simple answer. I don’t think anyone was enough. You were right when you said I didn’t want to be helped. By being helped, it meant I had to open up and tell you everything and submit to the mortifying idea of being known, of being seen for everything that I am, flaws and all, and just hope that you wouldn’t leave. I was too afraid to tell you everything, so I told you nothing.

Race regretted not talking to Jack. Well, not really. He regretted what that had led to. The endless fights, the screaming, the hurled insults, the rift between them that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t close. There was nothing he could do now to fix the damage that he had done.

All I really have to say is I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for the way things ended, I’m sorry for tearing us apart, I’m sorry for ruining our family. But most of all, I’m sorry I was never a better brother to you. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you were a bad brother to me - you weren’t. I couldn’t have asked for someone better. Please, don’t feel like this is your fault, it’s not. This is just my time to go. There’s nothing you or anyone can do to change that. You can't try to change that. I'm sorry for that.

Race’s tears flowed freely now, he stopped trying to stifle them. uncontrollable, wrenching sobs wracked his body, each one forcing him to gasp for air, but he didn't stop now. An overwhelming sense of desperation crashed over him in waves as he finally put all of his thoughts onto paper. Everything he had been holding in for months now was forcing its way out of him, as if it knew that this was its last chance to.

I know it sounds hard, but I want you to be happy. You have a good life ahead of you, Jack, don't waste it on me. If you don't go to that art school in Santa Fe I will haunt your ass. I don't want you to throw everything away because of me. You're worth more than that.

Race had to force that page. He knew it was all bullshit, a meagre attempt to try to lessen the blow, all of it some mandatory ritual that held no meaning, no purpose. None of it made sense. He tried to inject some humour into it to try to take away from the crushing reality of what was about to happen, but he knew it wouldn't work.

So, I suppose I should end this with a goodbye. An apology and a goodbye.

So I’m sorry for everything, both what we've been through and what you will go through. I love you, no matter how upset I may have been at times. I’ll never stop loving you.

I want you to have Jackie. He comforted me in the worst times, maybe he’ll help you too.

Your friend. No.

Your best friend. No.

Your brother.

Racetrack.

He hastily tore the page from his notebook and set it on the desk. Beside it, he set the worn, ragged stuffed dinosaur, with the word Jackie scrawled under the left foot in smudged blank ink. He pulled out his favourite jacket, an old blue denim one covered in pride pins, so it was more metal than fabric. He started to pull it on, but then he stopped, glancing briefly at his phone as it lit up with a notification.

Spot: Are you able to call tonight? I wanna tell you something.

Behind the message was a photo of him and Spot, with Spot pressing a kiss to his cheek as he laughed, eyes crinkling with his smile. Race couldn't remember being that person, but he couldn't help the tiny smile that tugged at the corner of his lips.

You: Sorry, I can't tonight. Had a lot on my plate with studying, and don't feel great so I’m gonna get some sleep. Tell me tomorrow?

Spot: Of course. Goodnight, Racer

You: Goodnight Spot, you can sleep now

“You can sleep now.” That was tradition between them now.  It had started when they had first hit together a year ago. Instead of “I love you,” before falling asleep, Race would say, “you can sleep now.” Spot hadn't been ready to take that step yet, so Race worked around it, and it had stuck.

Race couldn't go without saying goodbye to Spot. He pulled his notebook open again and scribbled another note, more calmly this time, less frantic. He folded the jacket and set it beside Jackie, then set the note on top.

He glanced around the room, going over the million memories he had here. Most of them were good, but more recently they had been tinted black and red and he couldn't break through that to see the good ones on the other side. It just got darker and darker and darker with no sign of light. He walked alone in that darkness, he was the only one who seemed to be able to navigate it. In his darkness, only the blind could see, and he was blind - blind to everything around him trying to help, blind to the hands reaching for him to pull him back to the light. He couldn’t see them.

He pushed the window open, relishing the way the wind whipped his hair. Slowly, he climbed out, and took off into the darkness of night, shrouded by the cover of woodland.

Finally, Jack was able to calm himself down. He thought over their argument, and felt sick as he thought about all the things he had said to Race. Race didn't deserve any of that, and none of it was true. He had said cruel things in the heat of the argument, and he wanted nothing more than to take them all back. He had to make everything right.

He gently knocked on Race’s door, frowning when he didn't receive an answer. He supposed it was to be expected, but it didn't mean he had to like it. He knocked again, louder, but he still got no answer. Then the worry started to settle in, just the feeling of something being slightly wrong . It made Jack feel sick.

“Racer, I’m coming in, okay?” Again, silence on the other side. Slowly, Jack pushed the door open.

A cold breeze blew in through the open window. Why did Race have his window open in November? Then he realised that Race wasn’t there . He glanced around, his eyes falling upon the stuffed dinosaur on the small desk tucked into the corner, and his heart sank.

He picked up the note with trembling hands.

He read the first few lines, before it slipped from his shaking fingers to the floor.

His knees buckled, and he felt himself tear in two, but he wasn't truly there.

Everything came crashing down around him and the world was spinning all too fast, too much at once and nothing stopped and nothing let up and everything was so, so wrong and nothing could fix it.

Race was gone, and he couldn’t fix it.

[crutchie-with-a-y]

Hello my dear, if you’re taking fic requests. Can you do Spot and Jack friendship? I think there’s not enough of it and I really enjoy it. You’re amazing love!

Hello! So so sorry this took so long, it got buried in my asks. You’re definitely right about there not being enough Spot and Jack friendship fics, so I hope you enjoy this! Thank you!

One Hell of a Dream 

Jack Kelly didn’t really go out at night much, especially after the newsies’ curfew, but tonight sleep wouldn’t come and when he put his stub of a pencil on a sheet of paper, it didn’t go anywhere. So he climbed down the fire escape as quietly as he could, peeking through each of the windows to check on his crew. He dropped onto the street, launching a few droplets of water from a thunderstorm a few days before as he landed. He looked up and down the road. To his left was mostly apartment buildings with sleeping families packed in like sardines. On his right, he could see the bright light of busy bars reflecting off the wet street and hear the drunk laughs of customers bouncing in and out of doors and alleys, echoing as it traveled. He turned to his right, attempting to stay out of the establishment’s light to avoid being taunted or called out to. He followed the shimmery reflections on the brick below his feet with his eyes, deciding to pretend he didn’t see a Racetrack Higgins-shaped figure arm wrestling someone on a table in front of a bar window.

Jack knew exactly where he wanted to go, but he let himself wander aimlessly down alleys and backstreets, just heading in a general direction. He strolled past a bakery and peered in the windows at bowls of rising dough. He past closed general stores and boarded-up restaurants, their tables, and kitchen blanketed in darkness. He came upon a men’s clothing store and stopped in front of the window. He positioned himself so his reflection was perfectly in line with a dark blue three-piece suit. Jack attempted to imagine himself in the suit, strolling through the halls of a gallery holding an art show of his latest collection. He could see perfect examples of old money, in their tall hats and colorful skirts, marveling at his work and paying high prices to be able to hang his work in their homes. He chuckled lightly at the idea of a snooty old woman at the head of a long table raising a crystal glass in a toast to him as she gestured to one of his pieces hanging above a fireplace, “To you Mr. Kelly, a man with true aptitude.” He would grin and take a sip of champagne, making eyes at the snooty woman’s pretty daughter over the bubbles, and then reach down to adjust his crisp cuffs, a habit he would repeat whenever complimented on his work. To his dismay, when he looked down at his wrists, there were no fancy cuffs, just a smudge of a pencil. Jack sighed, a bit disappointed to return to reality so soon. He looked back at the blue suit and nodded to his reflection, vowing in his mind that the next time he saw it, he’d be wearing it. 

He continued his late-night walk, the vision of his art show still in his mind when he finally reached his destination. Stretching above the glittering water of the East River reflecting the stars, stood the Brooklyn Bridge. A comforting sight to a New Yorker, its constant presence giving off a wise and homey feeling. Jack stepped onto the bridge just as a sudden wind wooshed across it. He sucked the cool air in through his teeth and decided to do his favorite thing both on the bridge and in the wind. He ran. He ran head-on, pushing through the wind like an arrow shot down the length of the bridge. There weren’t many people around and even if there had been he wouldn’t have minded, loving the feeling of speeding like a bullet too much to care. He dashed until he felt like his lungs would shoot out of his chest, pausing about halfway down the bridge, leaning his arms against the railing and looking at his shoes as he caught his breath. He lifted his head up with a boyish grin as he looked out over the water. 

“I love it here,” he whispered to himself, still panting as his eyes wandered over the horizon.

“Good Evenin’, Kelly,” A low voice sounded next to him, causing him to jump and stagger back in surprise. The voice chuckled softly. “You never learn, do ya, Kelly?”

“Damnit, Conlon,” Jack groaned and stepped back up to the railing. “How about warning a fella before you scare the bejesus out of ‘em?” 

“Not as much fun,” Spot smirked and looked out over the river. Jack snorted. They stood there in silence for a moment, enjoying the quiet and the view together. 

“So’s,” Jack cracked his neck and shifted on his feet, “How’s Brooklyn?” 

“Doin’ pretty well. Few scuffs here and there, but we’s doin’ aright,” Spot responded.

“Well, ya knows who to call if things go south,” Jack said, forever a conscious borough diplomat. Spot nodded in agreement, and they went back to silence. 

“Say, Spot?” 

“Mm.”��

“You ever think, think about things…,” Jack tried to put it into words. “Gettin’ bigger?” Spot glanced at him. 

“You means like another strike?” 

“No, just. Just more to things than papes, ya know?” Jack tilted his head. 

“I...don’t read ya, Kelly.” Spot shook his head slowly. 

“I means, what else we gon do? We can’t just sit here selling papes till we up and die.” 

“We’s just taking things one day at a time,” Spot said. 

“Well, yes but, don’t you think about like, years from now?” Jack stretched his hand out over the railing, searching for the words. “Don’t...don’t ya have dreams, Spot?” He looked at his friend, who kept looking out over the water. 

“Maybe,” Spot barely said. Jack waited for more, but nothing else came, so he tried to reach for it. 

“What are they?” There was a long silence, and for a minute Jack thought Spot may never answer. 

“Sometimes I’s thought about openin’ a shop,” Spot said, sounding like he wasn’t sure if he should let his friend in on his secret. Jack looked at him and cocked his head. 

“Like fruits or breads?” He inquired. 

“No, no.” Spot waved his hand, “Not that kinda shop.”

“What kinda shop then?” Spot looked back out over the water. 

“A clothes shop.” The corner of his mouth turned up, which was pretty close to a smile for Spot Conlon. Jack was a little surprised but as he thought about it, he could definitely see it. 

“For men or dames?” He asked, trying to get a better picture of his friend’s goals. 

“Oh, uh, I think both, actually,” Spot said. He hadn’t expected Jack to actually be interested. “And kids. And stuff for all sorts of people. Rich people, poor people, all of ‘em can shop at one store.” 

“You’s tellin’ me you’s gonna have Pulitzer and me buying clothes at the same place?” Jack smiled and the boys chuckled. “No but seriously,” Jack continued, “Sounds amazing.” Spot chuckled slowly and looked at his feet. 

“There’s this shop down the river a bit,” Spot said so quietly Jack had to lean closer to hear him. “I’s don’t go there a lot, but sometimes I gets up early and goes down there, just to watch it open.” He pulled himself back up on the railing and stared up into the sky. “There’s men in fancy suits with pocket watches and shiny shoes who open the doors. And these ladies with long skirts and gentlemen with tall hats come waltzin’ in. And they buy all the sortsa expensive clothes and perfumes and shoes that you can imagine.” Spot smiled. “ And the floors are really shiny and the ceilings are high and they’ve got the name of the store in big fancy gold letters out front over the door. And...And sometimes I like to imagine the letters say my name,” Jack had never seen Spot’s eyes shine so much as he lifted his hands up and spread them out in front of him. “Conlon’s.”

Jack followed his friend’s hands and imagined walking up to a pair of thick double doors in a high-end area of Brooklyn. And the doors would open and there Spot would be, standing in the middle of a brightly lit room with glass perfume counters and elaborate displays of the latest fashions. He’d be looking down at a gold pocket watch, and then he’d look up and tuck it into his pocket and clasp his hands together. 

“Jack,” Spot would say. “Welcome to Conlon’s.” 

“That’s one hell of a dream there, Conlon.” Jack grinned. 

“Yeah,” Spot breathed. There was another moment of silence as the two looked out over the waves. 

“And who knows,” Spot nudged his friend’s arm after a while. “Maybe we can have some original Jack Kelly pieces for sale as well.” Jack chuckled.

“I mean, with those high ceilings you’re gonna have a lot of wall space.”

“Exactly!” The friends laughed together as the cool river wind wrapped around them, hoping the images in their head weren’t just dreams, but future realities.